virtuous circle

Language: en

Meaning: (idiomatic,management)Asituationin which thesolutionto oneproblemmakes eachfutureproblemeasiertosolvethan theoriginalone.Synonyms:virtuous cycle,virtuous spiralAntonyms:vicious circle,vicious cycle1847,[John Lettsom Elliot],A Letter to the Electors of Westminster. From a Conservative, 2nd edition,[London]: John Hearne,[…],→OCLC,page18:[T]he less our agriculturists are interfered with by the importation of foreign corn, the more money have they to spend with their manufacturing brethren, who, in turn, secure of their steady profits at home, are able to ship extensively to distant markets with little apprehension as to the result. In political economy there may be "vicious circles," but there are "virtuous circles" too, and this is one of them.1990, Philip G. Cerny, “The Modern State at the Crossroads: Structuring the Field of Political Action”, inThe Changing Architecture of Politics: Structure, Agency, and the Future of the State, London; Newbury Park, Calif.:SAGE Publications,→ISBN, part I (The Principles of Political Structuration: Structure, Agency, and the Development of the Modern State),page100:State structuration, in effect, was characterized by the maintenance of a ‘virtuous circle’ from the post-feudal period to the middle of the twentieth century. Thisvirtuous circle, however, must not be mistaken for inevitability. The state is neither universal nor a higher stage of some sort of teleological evolutionary process. Should other structures[…]prove superior in structural capacity in a phase of stress and change,andprove capable of acquiring sufficient legitimation,[…]then thevirtuous circlecould conceivably be broken and the modern state superseded.1997,Charles Leadbeater, “The Virtuous Circle of Social Capital: How Social Entrepreneurs Inherit, Create, and Invest Social Capital”, inThe Rise of the Social Entrepreneur, London:Demos, published2001,→ISBN,page67:Successful social entrepreneurs go through a cycle of growth in several linked stages. At each stage they could fail and the organisation could go into decline.[…]We call this complete process the ‘virtuous circleof social capital’ because it starts with the inheritance of social capital and ends with the returns from the investment of social capital.2015, H[ailan]Yang, S[tephen]L. Morgan, “Development of China’s State-controlled Firms: The Case of the Consumer Electronics Sector”, in Hailan Yang, Stephen L. Morgan, Ying Wang, editors,The Strategies of China’s Firms: Resolving Dilemmas(Elsevier Asian Studies Series), Waltham, Mass.; Kidlington, Oxfordshire: Chandos Publishing,Elsevier,→ISBN, section 1.8 (Discussion: State Ownership and Competitiveness),page16:We can explain these differences in terms of avirtuous circleof positive feedback in response to market stimulus or a vicious circle of defensive and negative feedback that reinforced anti-market orientations associated with their administrative heritage before the advent of economic reforms.; (idiomatic)Aseriesofpositiveeventswhere eacheventleads to thenext,creatingaself-sustainingcycleofimprovementandsuccess.

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