NOTEBOOK
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057133 |
| Published date | 01 October 1980 |
| Pages | 15-16 |
| Date | 01 October 1980 |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
NOTEBOOK
THE GUARDIAN has taken
us to task for an article in our
July issue identifying various
ploys in the legal art of tax
avoidance (as opposed to
illegal tax evasion). We were
accused of encouraging "Ves-
teyism" although the Editor
was really writing tongue-in-
cheek about such gimmicks as
acquiring Saville Row suits
charged to the company and
docked to the employee at loan
value only.
The Editor tells me that the
Finance Act has closed more of
these loopholes since the arti-
cle was written and, anyway,
the Inland Revenue wages a
war of attrition on tax avoi-
dance practitioners that causes
more trouble than the money-
saving device is worth.
One key battle in the war is
to be fought in January when
two taxpayers' appeals will be
heard in the House of Lords,
both concerning tax avoidance
schemes designed to produce
allowable losses for Capital
Gains Tax. We shall watch the
outcome with interest on your
behalf.
DIESEL engine design will
benefit from space technology
following an agreement bet-
ween Lucas CAV, the British
company which is a world
leader in diesel fuel injection
systems, the TRW Inc's Auto-
motive Worldwide, a major
operating unit of the firm
which developed the Pioneer II
spacecraft that reached Saturn
last year.
The two companies are using
their combined expertise to
develop a microprocessor-
controlled diesel fuel injection
system from a Lucas CAV con-
cept. TRW will develop and
produce the electronic control
unit (ECU) based on joint
design work by the two com-
panies. When volume output is
underway, the agreement
allows for manufacture of the
ECU by both Lucas and TRW,
with transfer of production
know-how between them.
Lucas CAV will manufacture
the high precision mechanical
hardware and special sensors
and actuators. The complete
system is expected to be ready
for production by mid 1983
and will be supplied to engine
manufacturers by Lucas CAV.
The degree of precision
attained by electronic monitor-
ing and regulation of fuelling
will result in better combustion
efficiency for the diesel
engine's already good fuel
economy and improved emis-
sions quality to meet targets set
by the US Environmental Pro-
tection Agency.
The "closed loop" capability
of the ECU also compensates
for gradual wear of mechanical
components, allowing longer
vehicle service intervals. As
with many other automotive
products, electronic control is
the most cost-effective method
of achieving progress for diesel
fuel injection equipment.
Bob Lucas, Director and
General Manager of Lucas
CAV, tells me: "We reached
agreement with TRW because,
after looking at several other
companies in America, it is
apparent that TRW already
has considerable engineering
resources directed at automo-
tive electronics and has access
to some of the most advanced
technology known today.
Taken together with our
specific knowledge of the
diesel business, Lucas CAV
and TRW will be a very effec-
tivé combination."
AS we've always suspected,
there are two critical faults in
the way British industry selects
candidates for managerial
posts:
first, it rates personality
above ability; secondly, it bases
its choice on interview -
notoriously unreliable as a
means of assessing key factors.
These finding emerge from a
new report, "Selecting mana-
gers: how British industry
recruits", based on a survey by
Industrial Market Research for
the British Institute of Man-
agement (BIM) and the Insti-
tute of Personnel Management
(IPM).
Data for the survey was
gathered from 335 companies.
The survey shows that the
three most highly valued qual-
ities are "motivation", "con-
tribution to the job" and "abil-
ity to get on with colleagues".
These somewhat nebulous and
indefinable qualities are rated
above ability factors such as
experience, qualifications or
intelligence. The results indi-
cate a high degree of satisfac-
tion, sometimes bordering on
complacency, with traditional
methods of recruitment and
selection which do not appear
to have changed in any signfic-
ant way in the past ten years.
Companies give an over-
whelming vote of confidence in
favour of the interview. Other
methods, including psycholog-
ical tests, are little used at man-
agerial level. There is a feeling
that tests are somehow unsuit-
able for excutives or perhaps
even un-British.
REDUNDANT executives
face greater psychological
problems and dangers today
than they ever did in the past,
and employers need to intro-
duce more humane measures
such as counselling and gui-
dance for executives in prepar-
ing themselves to find other
jobs.
This was claimed by Mr.
J. G. Smith, managing director
of MSL's career counselling
service, when he addressed the
National Conference of the
Institute of Personnel Man-
agement at Harrogate last
month.
NOVEMBER 1980 15
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