Cherchez La Femme!

The dichotomy between faith and culture goes back a long way. Ancient religions of pre-history, before faith mattered, showed the relationship between religion, sex and agriculture. They formed their religions around it and it became their god or one of their gods. The cult of Baal in Canaan before the Israelite immigration and conquest of the area also showed a relationship between religion, sex and agriculture. The God of Israel became established and with it a different attitude, which was further developed when Christianity established itself through the preaching and travels of the Apostles and other missionaries and the practice of celibacy grew. Christianity teaches that the proper place for sex is as a procreative act in within marriage and family life. Cultural sensitivities around the globe vary greatly. Europe is probably more explicit than anywhere. Some Americans would be shocked at the things we take for granted. Japan is a culture of contradictions. Outwardly in public the people are shy and polite but sex is used much more liberally in their advertising. Freud observed that there seemed to be a conflict in man between the physical gratification of self and functioning as a member of society through the id, ego and super ego. His theories have been developed since then into a number of rival camps.

Against all this the message of morality and ethics is still being spread in season and out of season. It is a popular message but not with everyone. Many rich and powerful people do not like it. The principles of moral life are valid for everyone. The message is offered to all. People cannot claim not to have heard it especially in their own language. There are difficulties and objections. Paul offers 4 reasons. Some say maybe they have not heard it, but nature is still there. Some have heard it but not everyone accepted it. Some others may not have heard it in their own language. Some may have heard it but did not understand it. It may be unitelligible to some, but not others.

The fact remains - sex sells. It is not used so much at the moment. Overtly sexual messages are not that common in advertising any more. Once it was always women used in images and messages. Women are not used as much now and males are figuring more. It does not function as an attention grabber and in fact used merely to attract attention is more likely to be counter-productive. Marketers have become more correct and now also use stereotypically male and female traits in their respective markets. As the Nolan Commission shows immorality is still there in business and public life. It is used to further careers, to attain status, achieve domination and to satisfy ego needs. It is studied by motivation experts and scientists. It does not fit snugly into Maslow's hierarchy as it straddles a number of the lower strata. It may not be a motivating factor at all but the struggle between faith and philosophy and materialism and culture continues.

Getting Things Done Through People

Management means getting things done through people. It therefore involves some degree of delegation or empowerment. Delegation requires a mix of management and social skills and creates a special relationship between the manager and the subordinate. It leaves the manager free to be available and dispensible. It confers autonomy and special favour on the delegate. It requires confidence and trust.

There are two extremes to which delegation can be taken. At one extreme there is no delegation at all, a total lack of autonomy given to subordinates and everything is put down in rules, regulations and guidelines. At the other is the excessive zeal for delegation that leads to the super-delegator, the 'Artful Dodger' who is never there to accept responsibility. The manager must be accountable to his superior and the delegate accountable to the manager. Authority should be commensurate to responsibility. The key is a question of balance of how much power, authority and responsibility to delegate. The manager and subordinate should understand the extent of and restrictions on authority. When they understand these the delegate should be free to act within the agreed terms of reference. Responsibility must be accepted. It can later be withdrawn.

Bad delegation can lead to abuses of power. The execution of power beyond formal position or 'ultra vires' is possible when delegate's control is weak or lost. The abuses occur when the delegate tries to regain control. Control can lead to abuses of power in other ways. The network of social relationships with all the vagaries of social relationships and office politics offers opportunities to act positively and negatively in decision making situations. Negative power may be exercised by subordinates lower down the scalar chain by 'delaying' or 'forgetting' things. These abuses must be avoided.

There are two things that should be remembered when considering delegation - Parkinson's Law and the Peter Principle. Parkinsons Law or the 'rising pyramid' says that work expands to fill the time available to do it. It should in effect multiply subordinates, not rivals. It should also be remembered that it involves the opinion that officials make work for each other. The Peter Principle says that in a hierarchy individuals rise to their level of incompetence. It is something people remember when considerations are being made regarding promotions and delegations. Pull or push relationships may be used to analyse and decide. Pull relationships are those that include family and blood relationships and acquaintances. Push strategies involve study, hard work, training and education and efforts at self improvement. It should perhaps be remembered what Pascal once wrote about not making 'the richest person on board the captain of the ship'.

The contingency approach to structures is widely advocated in delegation. It is a development of systems theory. Systems theory is always in danger of falling foul of the insidious nature of management when it creates an oppressive environment or 'iron cage'. It is not sinister as such, but taken for granted, uses rules and methods of self control to stifle resistance and maintain the legitimacy of central authority. Contingency theory operates on the principle that there is no one best way to act in any situation. So it also involves recognising that the manager must delegate power and accept that the delegate may do things in a different way. There are a number of structural variables that may be affected. The manager can apply the 'if-then' method of analysis and control.

Delegation is part of the business world. It is inevitable as business grow and each job gets too big for one person.

Work And Hypocrisy

Work is an activity designed to accomplish something that is needed and valued for its contribution to civilised life. It is traditional. Refusing to work is breaking with tradition. There is a doctrine and a model behind it. There is usually a pattern of work and rest. A distinction is usually made between work and play. Work is valued and esteemed by reason of what it accomplishes, while play is activity or effort purely for satisfaction. While work is mostly applied to physical or manual labour it can easily be extended to include all forms of intellectual and psychological efforts as well, there is no reason why not. Physical work is often not held in very high esteem compared with more liberal pursuits such as soldiery and politics. Erroneous notions of contemplative life also see external action in a different light. Work is both an obligation and a necessity. It is necessary for sustenance and to avoid evil and vice. Work also makes almsgiving possible. It is not a punishment for sin.

Good work should be esteemed and valued for what it is and what it contributes to life but bad work should be condemned. Hypocrisy is a simulation, a falsehood, someone wishing to seem virtuous for self glorification. It is a dichotomy of saying and doing. It shows contempt for virtue, discourages people from virtue and from working for it. Capitalism has a particular attitude towards work. It is concerned with maximising personal gain for its own sake at the expense of others. It entailed the expansion of the world of work to include new forms of work developed by the application of the sciences that came to drive work in order to maximise profits. Science served as a guide to work sometimes for the better at other times not. It created a whole new culture of working life, a new world of work. It helped create the kind of society we have today. Work is rightly considered as part of social and economic life. It is a guide to right living. It is properly rewarded with a just wage.

Sincerity And Simulation

Businesses should keep the traditions they have, the practices, customs and opinions, often put together under the heading 'culture'. The bad ones, that is, those that don't work, will be discarded. The good and successful ones will be preserved and passed down from one generation to the next by word of mouth and in writing by family, company or University lecturer. The good ones will include moral uprightnes and fidelity in business relationships and stability.

At the same time be on guard against deception, duplicity, simulation and traduction. There is so much pretentiousness around it is possible it will spill over into business practices. The outer appearance may be different from the inner reality. It may be possible to be misled by these things into instablity. It is important to be able to discern the more important matters from the less important ones and give each the proper amount of resources. Being great in small matters is good, but avoid being scrupulous in some things and lax in more the important ones.

Women Of The World

Equal pay for work of equal value is a generally recognised right for women now. Job evaluation is another area that should be gender neutral. Most career paths open to both men and women. Women are combining family and career more than ever. Family life is still however a sign of stability and maturity for women and can be career enhancing for men. Stereotypes of male-as-breadwinner and female-as-homemaker are perceived as a barrier to female career progress. An aim is to change the bias of male manager selectors. In 19C, 35%were servants, 19.5 % were textile workers, 15.6% dressmakers. Men were in better jobs with better pay. Since WWII more married women are going out to work.

Recurring themes in structures of women in employment are that they are in different positions to men in content and power and responsibility and this is constant over time. They mirror the domestic and serving and caring functions encouraged by government and employers in their policies. There is lower value and status in their jobs and usually low paid or unpaid. Women's roles outside the workplace linked with life in the domestic sphere.

It is important to understand the position and status of women. Economic theories include the human capital and dual labour market theories; psychological sex difference theories are basically based on biology; socialisation which results in gender shaping; orientation and motives to work theories often overlook the fact that it is mainly men that feature in research but decisions revolved primarily around wome's priority for home care; and working practices in which recruitment and selection, informal communications, career development and attitudes feature strongly.

Changes may be good for women in management and they bring a more feminine style of leadership. There is media hype about the progress of women and resentment from men. It may be possible to acknowledge the changing working patterns of all employees and consider the best working practices for all employees in a diverse workforce.

Women of all ages are also making a difference in marketing. There is, for example, the online customisation of dolls to create a loyalty bond with young girls. Teenage girls' online activities include surfing, relationships and medical problems and virtual communities exist for all kinds of things. 'Tweens' are a massive market. The 8-14 year olds go for 'feel good' products like clothes, CDs, films and make-up. They have an influence on parent's shopping decisions. On web sites, a large percentage of new online users are women. New online countries with new market economies cultural changes into products and lifestyles they have never encountered before.

Role models for women vary considerably. Celebrities make up a large proportion of female role models as for most other things. The celebrity's image evokes more than a simple reflexive response of good or bad. There is a complex combination. Physical appearance, social attractiveness, expertise and similarity go together in impressing people. Source attractiveness and credibility are also important as is getting the message right. Humans learn from observing. The model will bring about the desired effect if attention is directed to the model, what the model says and does is remembered, if it is converted into action and if it has a motivating effect.

Post-Modernism And The Modern World

Modernism started as a movement wthin the Catholic Church. It is a generic name for efforts to reconcile Christian religion with the findings of agnostic philosophy and science of history and the cultural movements that gradually separated from religion and set themselves in hostile opposition to it. It is any cultural preference for the modern or contemporary especially in architecture, music and art. It emphasises functionality and man's ability to control his surroundings. It covers the 19C attempts to find solutions to the proofs of revelation against modern science and philosophy. It seeks to replace traditional society with modern social norms. An important feature is the search for a new basis for religion, no longer casting it in philosophical certitude about God and creation and historical certitudes about Jesus and his work, but casting it solely in man's inner self and religious experience and the power with which it asserts itself in religion and the world. Interiorisation of this kind is against religious rationalism and Christianity with its insistence on positive revelation. It attacks the foundations of the Church and its structures. It's beneficial effects are that is has prompted modern Biblical scholarship to show the continuity of the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith which Modernism suggested was in sharp distinction. Ritual and so on was also suggested to be part of cult and therefore merely symbolic.

Post-modernism suggests man shares beliefs in the central values of modernism and industrialism, economic growth, industrial production and the infallibility of science. It questions the search for universal truths and values and the existence of objective knowledge. It recognises pluralism in society, the coexistence of different truths, styles and fashions. It has been suggested that post-modernism can be described by a number of key features including fragmentation, de-differentiation, hyper-reality, chronology, pastiche and anti-foundationalism. It is also linked to the ability of consumers being able to see through the hype of advertising. Post-modernism is the new ideological configuration replacing modernity. Post-industrialism describes the transition from a 'productive' social order to a 'reproductive' social order with its simulations, models and signs and its occupation with appearance and reality. It marks a transition in culture with the division between high and low becoming less defined in genres like classical, jazz, blues and rock music. Despite any of the beneficial effects of modernism, and some will deny it has any, and its interpretation of modernity, the arguments still rage between faith and science, philosophy and science and show no real sign of abating.

A Normal Day's Pay

The British are often accused by Americans of complaining about people who are successful. It is not because they are successful but because of how they do it and how they behave when they do. The most obvious example in recent years is 'fat cat pay'. It is also the subject most likely to bring the accusations. The Combined Code is supposed to curb the excesses of executive pay. HR was complicit in the heist. They are the people who sometimes say they have workers' interests at heart. A look at the median pay of the FTSE 100 executives shows what that means. Plato suggested that the highest paid should never get more than five times the lowest paid. In some cases it is 20 times more. The Bible suggests 'to each, his own', no class vindictiveness, same pay for everyone as agreed. We should also take into account the basic necessities of life, or CPI/RPI. The average earnings in the country in November 2007 was £457 per week and the National Minimum Wage intended to help poorly paid unskilled workers, at the other end of the scale, was £5.52 per hour in October 2007 rising to £5.73 in October 2008. Less than the rate of inflation. Some people do not get even that much. According to Government reports there are still many people being paid below minimum wage. The minimum wage is having no effect on them. It has effects on low wage markets and efficiency wages but to make a real impact on improving quality of life for low income families the minimum would have to be a lot higher. In some cases it does not help them out of the poverty trap.

The Wealthy Man At The Gate

Wealth is something so many people want. It can distract from other things and cut us off from other people and lead to unpopularity. It can lead to exploitation and oppression. It can inflate egos and even make individuals believe they are God. Money is a god for some people. It can also be used for good. There are many worthy charities and social enterprises that need funding. Someone who has money is more likely to find charity impossible. The heart becomes attached to earthly goods, wealth, position and status. The joy in them should be diverted to more worthy causes. Wealth brings neither freedom from sorrow or help to the happiness of charity. Meritocratic wealth may be more socially acceptable.

Social Darwinists argue for natural selection and perhaps that means something to them as the rich get richer and the poor poorer. Even capitalists though are arguing that it should be made to include some charity for the less well off. Polls show that there is great concern among the general public about great corporate wealth. Globalisation and the exploitation of poor countries by rich ones is still unpopular. Advertising however still shows glamorous films showing how we can look like wealthy people if they buy this or that product. Prestige products are aimed at rich people and they are priced for them. The only thing is it might not fit through the city gates.

Deep Questions

We have deep questionings within ourselves. They are the essential and unavoidable questions of everyday life. They include what is good and what is evil. They are questions about morality and ethics, ultimately for believers they are also about God.

God is the only Good. God is unchanging, moral concepts change as social life changes. The ancient Homeric Greeks saw good as kingly, powerful, courageous, clever and wealthy. It basically came down to pleasure and pain. It is very different to our ideas of good in many contexts with our more modern beliefs in self interest and altruism, utility, justice and rights, human nature and freedom. Our beliefs about good also include the belief that only God knows good and we can never know for sure by ourselves what good is but can do our best with our gifts of conscience and reason. We have moral autonomy, the freedom to act and be responsible for our actions. The voice of conscience speaks to our hearts in a kind of interior dialogue. The errors of conscience can be put down to ignorance. It may be a culpable ignorance. We must make an effort to be sure, to be more perfect. The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is forbidden to us. According to the story, Adam and Eve were told they could not know good and evil and become like gods and live. When they overstepped the mark, their wilful pride was punished with the nemesis God warned them about.

We may not think we are called to perfection but we are. In our relationships and work we are expected to do our best, to strive for perfection. Our employers and clients want the best we can give. They expect us to perform to the best of our abilities and so we should. Extended to everyone as it is meant for everyone, it involves a kind of teleology, wanting something better from urge or necessity, but the ends do not justify the means.

The conditions for moral growth include maturity in self giving to which freedom is called. They also include interiorising the demands of the moral life. The moral life is demanding as new questions and problems arise in social and cultural life, politics, science and technology which affect the future for us all.

The Mighty And The Lowly

People have visions of ideal states, business successes and a successful city by virtue of following fair trade principles, justice and rights and practices that destroy powers hostile to it. Others reject higher things and concentrate on self. The business community is made up of people who belong to it as members by nature being born into families already in business or agriculture, others become members by deciding to opt for a career in business or agriculture through education and training, friends or whatever. Some people are causal through their vices leading to the death of business and fair trade while others give life and vitality by adding some value through fresh new ideas, inputs and insights. New entrants with good ideas should be given every chance to succeed. They offer liberation in many ways to business and markets. They may bring more humanity to the business scene.

Forgiveness, Politics And Economics

Precepts about forgiveness for the maintenance of peace usually follow situations where long standing injustices have been corrected or atrocities have taken place. Forgiveness might also be necessary in many more cases where it is never mentioned and it could do some good.

Officials and finance ministers of wealthy countries grant debt forgiveness. They might also like to see it practiced by others. Others might like to see it carried out by those who promised it. In Central and Eastern European Countries, S.America, the Middle East and South Africa leaders had to consider how to balance and reconcile past and present after years of oppression. If forgiveness and reconciliation are overlooked or ignored aggression and fear might again become the only motives and force the only effective instrument of the state. Exiles would become the symbol of the country.

Forgiveness is traditonally other-regarding. Economic behaviour is self-regarding. It may of course be in a person's best interest to forgive. The self interest of Schopenhauer with his theory of malice and sympathy and hostility to criticism, Hobbes' belief that any regard for others is purely secondary to self interest and Mandeville's disregard for any good but his own are in contrast to Lockean enlightened self interest, the public interest and the social contract. Servants should not become the slaves of power and wealth but consider forgiveness for the common good.

For The People And The City

Prudence and moral management are a bulwark against adversity. Doctrines advocating such practices are a sign of the unity of opinion and purpose in the management and academic communities. Institutes and professional associations should be signs like brands that people recognise instantly as signs of quality. Industry sets standards and gives awards to companies that achieve their quality marks. Codes of ethics and good practice are there as guidelines for their members in an industry or sector and for reference for non-members as future targets. Businesses and individuals should also aim to be like brands. When they fall short, informal correction is better for correcting mistakes than ignoring them or going public straight away. Good internal and external working relationships should be maintained for operations to run smoothly. The psychological contract is important. Mutual agreements must be honoured. Disciplinary recalcitrance may demand stronger action if the disruptive behaviour persists. If it gets beyond redemption the contract should be terminated.

Striking The Right Note With Children

Children are important to marketers. Striking the right note is very important. Of course that might mean running into the problem of 'pester power'. Children are somewhat susceptible to characters and collectables. They like them and tend to pester parents for the latest addition to the set. The Advertising Code of Practice has issued guidelines to prevent marketers encouraging children to pester. We do not want to lose children to products. The family household has a lot of influence. Parents should not yield to easily to children's wants. Parents exert the most influence over a child's socialisation into the market place. They are in a position to determine what their children are exposed to. Television is also important. It presents children with idealised images of adults which they want to emulate.

Children go through several stages of consumer development in the process of socialisation into the market place. Observation starts immediately. Later requesting begins followed by selecting. When the child is at about school age they begin to make assisted purchases and then eventually at about 8 years old they start making independent purchases. All of the time they are developing purchasing and marketing skills.

There are so many different kinds of household now that the traditional family is not alone. One person, lone parent, multi-person households, unmarried, reconstituted families and marriage and divorce trends suggest the traditional family may be going out of fashion. It is still however the majority grouping. Decision making within the family can be autocratic or syncratic. A one person or group decision. Different purchasing situations will determine which it is at the time. Pester power still has an influence. Avoiding pester producing adverts is one way to get round the problem, another is to avoid the children's department in supermarkets. Children however if they see something they like will pester the parent for it. Inevitably the parent will give in. Thses are the direct influences. Indirect influences from outside the family are also effective and the family has little or no control. Marketers therefore have an important role to play in ensuring the message is right.

Visions

A vision of future success or glory should find a parallel in a call of some kind. Visions are normally not a full revelation but only partial in exterior signs. The public manifestation can be given signs and symbols to represent the vision. Visions of a better life can accompany a call to promote it. Each person has accountablility for their own actions. The content and form of visions can also be studied. There are quite a number of examples to which a researcher can turn. Even though followers may understand the message perfectly, other might not. Diplomacy makes good sense. People can listen and take note or not.

The Promise Of Joy

The oppression and cruelty of deceitful diplomats creates pent up feelings of bitterness and hatred in their victims. Happiness eludes those who look directly to acquire great wealth. Works, behaviour and requite do not go unnoticed. In all of it there is still the promise of joy.

We are all growing to maturity and gaining in human and spiritual autonomy. We are all gradually realising our vocations more fully. More people are seeing the soul as having the greatest value to man and that faith and morals are of the first importance. Unions are among them and businesses too. The destiny of the soul is different for some and different for others. We are trying to make the best use of created things.

We should use our consciences more in scientific and technological progress to make man better in both the natural and supernatural order. Economic activity should be carried out in accordance with techniques and methods belonging to the moral order. Our human spirituality takes its character from the circumstances of our state of life, our health and our professional and social activity. We should cultivate our talents. We should not become the slaves of wealth.

Milestones Of Change

In creating a new culture as with change of any kind there will be resistance to change. The resistance takes the form of the persistence of core cultural values, beliefs, symbols, preferences and behaviours that exist, the 'me' society. There are also shifts in secondary values, shifts in people's views of themselves and others. Hedonism is giving way to concern for self-realization. There is a transformation from the 'me' to the 'we' society. There is less trust in business and public organisations. People are looking for good corporate reputation and concern for the environment. In society patriots who are happy with the country are in conflict with reformers who are pressing for improvements. Nature and the universe are also in for consideration. While many people want to harmonise with nature and preserve or conserve it for future generations, others want to master and subdue it and use it for the good of humanity. The movement of people who love the great outdoors continues to grow and the industries that go with it. The universe may hold the answers to questions regarding the origin, our place in it, religion and inner purpose.

Culture and all these sub-cultures and counter-cultures can be seen on the ground. They are reflected in the buildings, art, language, literature, music and products we buy. They are in the beliefs and values of governments. A culture is the way of life of a society passed on from one generation to another. It is what we eat and when, being for or against animal testing and food marketing in an age when eating disorders are widespread and obesity is 1 in 5 in some places.

These cultural phemonena are accompnaied by another, the symbol pool. Cultural gatekeepers are intermediaries who have an influence in cultural development and change controlling the 'through-put'. There are the 'bibles of fashion', the many popular glossy magazines that people refer to to help them decide what look they would like to adopt. They all contain multifarious symbols for people to adopt.

At a superficial behavioural level organisation wide relationships need top be considered. Along with this is the boss-subordinate relationship, peer groups and the interdependent relationships. Questions surround whether to have change around the existing culture, a changed or modified culture and abandoning the culture altogether. The change process may encounter a dialectical stage when competing values are pitted against each other. There will always be the deep assumptions level where the core values are held. These basic assumptions are our shared perceptions, values, beliefs and artefacts. They are very difficult if not impossible to change. There are difficult problems even here. Culture reflects shared assumptions about what is important and how things are done, how people behave and routines and rituals, stories and language. Some values and beliefs have little to do with those people really hold and follow. These real assumptions must be discovered as with the sub-cultures and counter-cultures where the values and so on are not shared.

Transformational change can be systemic, dynamic and iterative and a learning experience with multiple stakeholders at multiple levels.

It's No Myth

In business philosophy and ethics there are an array of authorities. For some maybe one stands out. Ministers laud him and follow his teachings and leadership. They recognise the successes and accomplishments achieved by this person and put the teachings into practice. When a protege is presented followers immediately do their research to find out more. The successor must satisfy certain criteria in order to be accepted because authority is not based on myths. There must be case studies, eye-witnesses to greatness and good grounds for acceptance. A light in the darkness that might even penetrate the heart. The inner circle must become wider and begin to draw more people in from the periphery. The revelation may appear to deserve more concrete recognition. It would be a mistake to build a monument too early. Even though they can see no other not everyone may be so convinced. They need to see more but it is important to keep privileged information confidential. It requires trust and commitment on both sides.

Getting The Right Balance

Problems in the workplace caused by Theory X types can be managed and turned round by careful management calling on the social and human skills of the manager. By adopting the right management style, golden rule management principles whenever possible, not being authoritative, if it is avoidable, or exploitative in any way, discipline can be maintained and restored without formal disciplinary action which is usually a last resort. A good manager should be able to create a good working environment and maintain good community relations. A good reputation with the local community is important when it comes to recruitment and working relations with existing and attracting quality new employees. If applied properly basic management philosophy will bring about the necessary change in attitudes and restore equilibrium. It requires recognition and credit where it is due, fair and equitable treatment. Everyone needs to know where the lines are drawn, the extent and the limits of their authority. A good understanding of the psychological contract is key. It is possible to work wonders.

Is Everybody Happy?

There are dangers when devising strategy or policy. One of the most dangerous factors is ourselves. People make plans, give advice and guidance in the process in good faith thinking it is right. It may even be in a traditional form, rational and popular, exactly what people or clients want to hear. All involved may be deluding themselves. They might even believe it and show faith in rationalism and utility and other reliable guides but it is not how they tell it. Guided by higher principles what may seem surprising or unacceptable may turn out to be right. We should remain open to inspiration and guidance from those who may not tell you exactly what you want to hear even though it may be true. We might like to think we are always right and everything is going to be all right in future but be leaving out some of the most important factors. Our own faults and failings may be making it impossible.

Like Jeremiah

It is hard enough starting a new business. Many people have preconceived ideas of what business people should be like and if you don't fit their idea you stand a good chance of not being accepted by them. Since the 'enterprise culture' was created in the 1980's millions of ordinary people have tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to start businesses. Every year millions of people register for VAT and every year millions of people deregister. In 2006, 182.2 registered and 143.1 deregistered. It has been a familiar pattern since 1996. Before that it was more pronounced. It seems to suggest that most new businesses fail. It is in fact the accepted doctrine. There are of course ways get round it and to succeed and to prolong the life of a business beyond that immediately apparent to those in that precarious position. There has in fact been a 21% rise in VAT registrations during the period between 1995 and the start of 2007. So it is not all doom and gloom. The largest increases have been in business services. The largest fall in deregistrations was wholesale, retail and repairs. The largest increase in deregistrations was agriculture an industry which has been in decline for some time. Only agriculture and manufacturing saw a fall in the stock of VAT registered business in 2006. All others saw an increase. The fall in VAT registered business in agriculture and manufacturing must be reversed. Some people have been warning about these continued deregistrations for years. No one likes to see it some don't even like to hear about it. There have been opportunites to reverse it but the political will was lacking. However it is still difficult for 'ordinary' people from 'ordinary' backgrounds to start a business or get a foot on the farming or business ladder.