This book, originally published in 1985, examines the practical effects of management buy-outs in terms of improvements in financial and managerial performance and sets them in their general theoretical context. It opens by considering buy-outs from the standpoint of economic analysis, entrepreneurship and the wider economic implications for industrial restructuring. It goes on to look at the effects of buy-outs in practice in a range of case studies developed by the authors. These consider the financial, economic and managerial impacts. Finally, it discusses the implications of management buy-outs for government policy and presents some general conclusions. This title will be of interest to students of business studies and management.

Bobby Jones always hoped that someday an amateur would win the Masters. In this novel, bestselling author John Coyne-The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan and The Caddie Who Played With Hickory-tells the story of Tim Alexander, an amateur from the public links courses in Southern Illinois, who qualifies for the Masters and has a chance to fulfill Jones' dream. In The Caddie Who Won The Masters, Coyne blends his skill at the supernatural (he's a bestselling author of novels of the occult) with his vast knowledge of golf and its history. The riveting result: a Field of Dreams-like tale that brings the greatest of golf's ghosts and legends back to Augusta for one more brilliant game. The novel opens, as all Masters stories must, at Amen Corner, that famed cluster of holes, when Tim Alexander meets one of Augusta's most famous members, a mysterious stranger who changes the rules of golf and reality-and offers to save Tim's wife if Tim will set him free by winning the tournament. This novel is a story of what happens when an amateur like Tim Alexander battles his own age, the history and slick greens of Augusta National, and the PGA's best players, from Tiger Woods to the young guns, in a tournament where winning means more than a green jacket to Tim-it means saving the life of his wife. Any golfer who has had Augusta fantasies will be fascinated to spend a week in Georgia, immersed in the traditions, and the suspense, of the Masters, as time is turned back and an amateur, summoning the ghosts of Augusta, plays the greatest tournament of his life.

Before there were titanium woods and graphite shafts, golf clubs were made from the wood of hickory trees and had intriguing names like cleek, mashie and jigger. Golf was a game played not with high-tech equipment but with skill, finesse, and creativity. And the greatest hickory player of all time was Walter Hagen---until the day he met a teenage caddie at a country club outside Chicago.
America's first touring golf professional, Hagen made (and spent) more prize money than his friends Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey earned from baseball and boxing during the Golden Age of Sports. In this novel, set in the halcyon post-war Midwest of 1946, Hagen comes to historic Midlothian Country Club as the champion he is---but also as a man handicapped by a secret.
Waiting for him are two caddies. Harrison Cornell--a onetime rich playboy from the Bahamas--has a past; the other---Tommy O'Shea, a farm boy who caddies at the country club---may have a future . . . but only if he can somehow beat Hagen on the links, in one last game played with hickory.
Cornell is a mystery man who appears from nowhere and presents himself as a "looper," a professional caddie. Soon everyone sees that he has a gift---within weeks he has improved the games of dozens of members. Only Tommy O'Shea, his eager pupil, knows Cornell's real motive for coming to the club: his grudge against Walter Hagen, over something that happened during the Second World War in the lovely paradise known as the Bahamas.
As the playboy and the farm boy become friends, Harrison teaches Tommy the secrets of playing golf with hickory, along with lessons in life and love. But the shadow of Hagen, and the upcoming match, fall across the Midwest summer, and as the competition nears, Tommy's hopes for the future---and his love for a member's daughter---are threatened when the truth about Harrison's past is revealed. Not until the climax, played out in an exciting shot-for-shot match, will all the questions be answered and all the scores settled.
As in his previous novel, " The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan," author John Coyne has created a world rich in characters, action, and golf lore---this time including the fascinating history of hickory play. An entertaining, suspenseful read for anyone who loves the game, it is also a book that offers a pure dose of Midwestern soul, written by a new voice in golf literature who has firmly established himself as one of the leaders of the genre.

Invited to speak at the anniversary of the Chicago Open, Jack Handley returns to the exclusive Midwest course where he caddied as a young boy. Now a respected and elderly historian, Jack recounts to the assembled sons and daughters of members he once knew the historic summer of 1946 when Ben Hogan visited the club to play in their famous PGA golf tournament.
At the time, Matt Alexander was the young club pro--Jack's idol, his dear friend, and a talented player with a velvet swing. Caddying for Matt, Jack oftentimes reined in Matt's reckless play as together they dissected each hole in preparation for Matt's attempt to qualify for the Chicago Open. But a secret romance that began between working-class Matt and Sarah, the daughter of the club president, threatened to disrupt their training--and their friendship.
Shortly before the Open, on a momentous late afternoon, fourteen-year-old Jack found himself caddying a tense practice round between Matt Alexander and Ben Hogan. In between golf swings and cigarette breaks, Hogan spent time with the impressionable Jack, teaching him far more about life than about golf.
Jack, thrilled by Hogan's presence at the country club but mindful of his own friendship with Matt, found his loyalties were divided when it came time to caddie in the Open. In a series of events--both poignant and tragic--Jack's decision on whom to caddie for became the pivotal moment of the summer, and perhaps his life.
The summer of 1946 was a time of heightened emotions for the young teenager, and the Chicago Open itself was a moment of truth for Jack Handley. Retelling the story at the anniversary, he relives the golf matches--and reveals to his audience thehuman side of the iconic Hogan.
" The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan "is filled with stories about this golden era of golf and the legendary Ben Hogan. It is a bittersweet novel about golf and growing up, and the strangers we meet along the way who make all the difference in our lives. Advance Praise for "The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan"
This novel achieves something remarkable. . . . The two fictional marathon golf contests . . . are presented with such narrative skill, such compelling detail, and such evident love of the game that they are transfixing. John Coyne has managed to employ golf as a lens through which aspects of Midwestern daily life in the 1940s, of thwarted love, of social class, are revealed with stark and unsettling clarity.
--Norman Rush, winner of the National Book Award for "Mating"
The imagined anecdotes involving Ben Hogan ring true. A great job by John Coyne.
-- Curt Sampson, author of" Hogan" and" The Grand Slam"
Don't play golf myself. The only two balls I ever hit was when I stepped on the garden rake. But I can tell you that John Coyne captures the skill and magic of fellow Texan Ben Hogan in a helluva great story.
--Kinky Friedman, next governor of Texas and author of "Texas"" Hold 'Em" and "Cowboy Logic"
John Coyne has come up with a winning golf tale. Anyone who loves the game will have trouble putting down this intriguing story, which skillfully mixes fact and fiction. Coyne gives us tragedy, triumph, and Ben Hogan all in one. For those who enjoy a good read about golf, it's perfect!
--J. Michael Veron, author of "The Greatest Player Who Never Lived"
He so cleverly tells this original tale that you will be shocked to learn thatthis is merely the product of his rich imagination.
--Geoff Shackelford, author of" The Future of Golf "and" Grounds for Golf"--Jules Alexander, photographer for "The Hogan Mystique"
A must-read not just about the game of golf, but also about the game of life.
--The Professional Caddies Association
John Coyne knows golf and golf history, and he understands the intricate workings of the human heart. Anyone who loves golf--and many readers who don't know a five-iron from a free throw--will appreciate his skill and be happily drawn into this fine story.
--Roland Merullo, author of "Golfing with God"