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THERE are two opposed approaches to any problem of engineering design. One is to proceed by small steps from established practice so that what amounts to a development tradition is built up. The other is to treat each problem completely afresh, to analyse the requirements and rationally formulate a solution to them from scratch. Of course each approach has its place. Where the problem is to build something which has been built before, but on a larger scale or with a higher performance, the following of established procedures will yield the quickest and perhaps the most reliable solution. Much of our industry in this country works exclusively in this way. It is the natural outcome of our early start in the industrial revolution. However problems do arise from time to time which have no relation close enough to anything which has been done before for anything but a completely fresh approach to suffice. In such circumstances any preconceptions or traditions of approach may be a hindrance. However, where the problem is completely new there can be little choice but to think out solutions from the beginning. In the case of an established industry there may well come a time when conditions have changed, perhaps gradually, or when the problems to be solved have imperceptibly altered to such a degree that the original organization and methods are no longer the best. Here the sweeping away of well established procedures is much more difficult.

The story of the rise and influence of technology as a major force in our society is one of innovation. Technology needs to stay innovative to remain relevant and to keep adding value. The economist Schumpeter has shown us that technology moves in a creative destructive path. It is safe to say that the two, technology and innovation, are synonymous. Joseph Nadan, NYU-Poly Professor of Technology and Business Innovation, defines innovation as "people creating value by implementing new ideas." At the heart of that definition is the individual. It is also clear, that every nation and society needs more innovation and innovators to move forward and improve our economic conditions. Understanding who is an innovator and how we can create and educate more innovators is critical to the well-being of societies. To foster understanding it is useful to visualize the innovator as being on a journey. Joseph Campbell has shown us that since ancient times myths teach us profound lessons about the path of heroes that fulfill certain roles in society. One such role, the innovator, has a deep tradition in the myths of all societies. It is important to understand these myths and what lessons they teach us about the innovator's journey. By observing the characteristics of the path they follow and the motivations of the individual innovator, we are better positioned to educate innovators, to nurture them so they are productive in any organization, to recognize them when we are ready to employ them, and to clear a path for them to be innovative when they are ready to implement new ideas. Many ancient myths and stories of heroes are available to study the innovator's journey. The myth of Prometheus is one powerful example. In this paper we examine this myth and what it teaches us about the elements of the innovator's journey and the lessons we may learn to nurture innovation and innovators who benefit organizations. We will also examine how to foster the education of future innovators who, we trust, will push the frontiers of technology and contribute to its creative destructive path. We contend that innovation as a profession is just starting to be defined and that the elements of the Promethean journey can inform the conversation.

A range of small self‐contained hydraulic machine test sets are now available which permit small groups of students to obtain the usual performance characteristics of pumps and turbines with some ease‐though at the expense of efficiency due to scale effects. As most lecture courses include the application of pumps to systems as well as the basic considerations affecting pump performance, it was felt that a layout that allowed the student to combine two pumps in series and then in parallel would introduce him to the hydraulic considerations involved as well as give a more flexible piece of equipment that would permit these tests and a performance test to be conducted (for the basic performance curves would have to be produced first). The apparatus evolved is described, and skeleton laboratory instructions are attached as an appendix. When two similar pumps are connected in series, the fluid passes through each in turn, and the total head produced is approximately double that of one pump as illustrated in figure 1. When two similar pumps are connected in parallel, the total head produced is that of one pump, but the flow is approximately doubled, as shown in figure 2. Figure 3 is a diagrammatic layout of the hydraulic system. The apparatus consists basically of two similar pumps A and B which can be run as single units, connected and operated in series, or connected and run in parallel as will be seen from figure 3, the valves 2 and 4 are closed when series operation is desired, and flow controlled by valve 6; when operation in parallel is required valve 3 is closed, all others being open. A single sump tank is provided, flow measurement is achieved by simple volumetric means and pressure is measured by bourdon‐type gauges, a, b, c and d. The pumps are supplied by Stuart Turner with a duty of 50 feet at approximately 1300 gpm at 2900 rpm, they may operate at 1450 rpm or 2900 rpm, are provided with swinging stators for torque measurement and with a revolution counter for average speed determination. As will be seen from the appendix, the sequence of tests to be performed requires the student to obtain the basic performance characteristics of each pump at the two rotational speeds possible, and to compare them using the Similarity laws; then to test the pumps connected in series and parallel and to compare the performance obtained with that predicted. Figures 4 and 6 give some typical curves and show that the actual performances in series and parallel do not quite fulfil those predicted ignoring losses‐the student is required to consider the contributory factors in his discussion. The writer is grateful to Plint and Partners Limited for their co‐operation.

The verb is the most important word in a sentence, and most mistakes made by overseas students arise out of the misuse of verbs and their tenses. It is not easy to determine whether these mistakes are due to ignorance or to carelessness; probably a mixture of both. It is difficult to do anything to correct carelessness, but easier to dispel ignorance. The verb is the word that tells us what is taking place in a sentence. If, for example, we write My brother…a letter, we see that there is some sort of link between the two words. It is the verb that will explain that link: My brother has, reads, loses, admires, writes a letter. The verb tells us what is going on: it is the key word.

There are quite a few books published on study methods. Years ago I published a slim volume on the subject (A Guide to Study — BACIE, London) and it is still in print. If you examine these books you will probably conclude — correctly — that what they have to say is no more than applied common sense. However common sense is not always easy to follow; for although we all start out with good intentions, we often fail to keep to them. So perhaps the first thing to emphasise is that successful study demands constant and steady practice, for which there is no substitute. This is another way of saying that before you embark on a course of study, you must be quite clear about your aims. After that you must plan carefully, and persevere once you have started. This is easy to say, but difficult to observe. I have seen many students pay their fees and then drop out, often almost before they have got started.

This paper has been completed based upon adult learning research carried out by Bus Stop™ Training. Their research demonstrated the importance of what enables adults to achieve greater knowledge retention and what drives them to want to learn more.

The purpose for the research was to ensure that the IT training methodology recommended by Bus Stop delivers the following business benefits: skills analysis ensures training given only where pertinent; skills analysis ensures training focuses on modules relevant to student's job function; training modules completed in one hour sections thus ensuring student is not absent from their desk for longer than necessary; and training materials are developed to encourage knowledge retention and “memory joggers” versus complex and non‐relevant training manuals.

During the course of the research, findings showed that adults do want to better themselves but by taking training that is relevant to them and their job function. They also wish to learn in smaller, peer groups. Companies want the investment made in their employee trainings to be effective immediately. The route taken with Bus Stop enables the employee to put their learning into practice within one hour of a particular module having been taught and, thus, learnt.

This paper is relevant to HR managers, training managers and workers alike. It describes a new, innovative training methodology that focuses on the exact skills required by a certain individual to complete their job function. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of an individual and then compiles a training course tailored, and relevant, to that individual.

Looks at some of the common causes for resisting change.

A clear and compelling vision has to be painted so that employees are encouraged to move towards it; and for those who are differently motivated, also build a burning platform to compel them forwards. These plans need to be realistic, and expressed in language that means something to them, and not just corporate gobbledygook.

People need a reason to change: and it is the job of the managers to give it to them! The default position for most people is I will carry on doing what I know and understand until I am given a good reason to change.

The key to successful change programs is to understand the WIFM factor (What Is in it For Me?) Every change will alter the balance of winners and losers in the corporate game.

Research has demonstrated that employees desire to be shown appreciation in various ways. The five languages of appreciation provide a model for exploring these differences. This study aims to explore whether individuals who speak different languages (and are from various cultures) differ in how they prefer to be shown appreciation.

The Motivating By Appreciation Inventory (MBAI) is an online tool that assesses each person’s preferences in how they desire to be shown appreciation at work. Initially developed in English, the MBAI has been translated into seven additional languages. Over 2,200 employees took the MBAI in their preferred spoken language: Mandarin (Chinese), Danish, French (Canadian), Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American), Thai and Turkish. The frequency of each group’s preferred appreciation languages was analyzed to determine similarities and differences across the languages spoken.

Given the non-normal distribution of the data, the Kruskal–Wallis test found that there was a significant difference in preferences for participants’ primary appreciation language across the seven groups of various spoken languages. One key theme was that words of affirmation were most frequently chosen by five of the seven language groups, whereas employees from Thailand and Turkey chose acts of service most frequently. Additionally, tangible gifts were the least frequently chosen appreciation language by all groups, and at rates below their US counterparts. In three of the languages, quality time was preferred significantly less compared with the other languages.

Some of the groups’ findings (Portuguese, Thai) may be impacted by a confounding variable of the type of work setting (manufacturing) in which the employees worked – in comparison to office-based work settings.

One theme was, in comparison to other ways of receiving appreciation, tangible gifts are not highly valued by most employees across all language groups. Therefore, organizations using gifts as the primary way to communicate appreciation to employees may be wasting a lot of money. Similar to English-speaking employees, five of the seven language groups chose words as their preferred appreciation language. A wide range exists, however, across language groups with regards to the proportion who desire words, quality time or acts of service. Multicultural organizations should pay attention to employee preferences, lest they waste time and energy on undesired actions.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that has examined the preferences of how employees like to be shown appreciation across seven different language groups.

In July 2021, the European Commission has proposed a set of conjunct initiatives to reform the antimoney laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulatory regime in Europe with the main aims to (i) harmonize the AML/CFT regulation and (ii) centralize the authority to a higher degree at European Union (EU) level. This paper aims to assess the reform in light of the EU subsidiarity principle.

The paper uses a benchmark approach to compare the proposed EU money laundering reform against Article 5(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The paper confirms that more centralized decision-making at EU level in this policy area is justified, mainly because (i) the policy area is not an area where the EU has exclusive competence, (ii) EU centralized action is necessary and (iii) it also adds value, for instance, for level playing field and efficiency considerations as long as local information advantage will not be lost. As such, the subsidiarity principle can be applied and is an adequate tool to legitimize EU centralized action in the field of money laundering combat.

As the EU AML regulatory reform has not yet been sufficiently discussed in light of the subsidiarity principle, the article is of innovative nature.

This paper aims to explore how HR leaders can help their managers ditch the traditional command-and-control leadership style and instead adopt an enquiry-led management approach – Operational Coaching^®. This approach helps managers to develop coaching-related behaviours in their day-to-day interactions with teams, to cultivate a culture that is more collaborative, inclusive and innovative with measurable improvements in engagement, productivity and performance.

Responding to the UK’s woeful productivity and employee engagement levels, the Government sponsored a large-scale academic research study (designed, conducted and independently evaluated by the London School of Economics, LSE) to assess the impact of managers learning to use an Operational Coaching^® style of management. Managers in 62 organisations across 14 sectors worked through a learning programme designed to build managers’ confidence in using intentional enquiry as a part of their everyday management style.

LSE proved, statistically significantly, that managers increased the amount of time they spent coaching their team members by an average of 70% and generated a 74 times return on investment. LSE also noted that intervention group organisations indicated a positive sixfold improvement in employee retention than in control group organisations.

When managers learn to use an Operational Coaching^® style of management in their day-to-day work with others, it allows them to learn how to challenge, support and grow the capabilities of their team members in ways that measurably benefit the individual and the organisation. Colleagues are more engaged, recognised and rewarded. As their competency and confidence grows, managers are released from aspects of their to-do lists and are able to invest even more attention towards coaching their team members.