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The construction industry has been criticized for cultural intolerance and its poor industrial image. The ethnically diverse construction workplace in Hong Kong (HK) is frequently noted as a place in which racial harassment and discrimination occurs. The purpose of this paper is to explore the discriminatory experiences and working conditions experienced by ethnic minority (EM) construction operatives in HK.

A mixed-method approach was adopted, including a questionnaire survey and focus group discussions. The survey identified the thoughts of EM construction workers about racial discrimination and harassment in the workplace. The focus group discussions were aimed at further exploring the discriminatory practices on HK construction sites and possible discrimination-coping strategies.

Questionnaire data from 100 EM site operatives and labourers mainly from Nepal and Pakistan, but some few from other Asian countries as well as, plus two focus group discussions suggested that indirect and subtle forms of racial harassment do exist on HK construction sites. The operatives sampled reported the existence of inequality of treatment in their working life. Communication difficulties caused by language barriers affect work relationships between different cultural groups on construction sites. EM site operatives tend to interact with workers of similar cultural and ethnic groups. On the corporate/company level, language support and translations of safety procedures notices and policies, should be established to bring staff together and promote a more inclusive and harmonious workplace.

The paper offers insights into the racial discrimination problems in the construction sector in an Asian context, which has been less explored. It aims to provide insight into the EM construction worker's situation in HK as well as the need for developing workplace-specific policies that protect against discrimination and protect the rights of EM workers.

Although there are theoretical costs and benefits to corporate diversification, there is ample empirical evidence that the stock market views the costs to outweigh the benefits (Lang and Stulz (1994), Berger and Ofek (1995), Servaes (1996), etc.) These studies are cross‐sectional studies which compare diversified firms to specialized firms and examine valuation multiples. The studies find that diversified firms have lower valuation multiples than specialized firms. This is called the diversification discount. In this paper, a sample of U.S. firms which are specialized and then become diversified are examined. We do not find evidence of a long‐term reduction in firm value associated with diversification.

Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence down into manageable chunks, covering: age discrimination in the workplace; discrimination against African‐Americans; sex discrimination in the workplace; same sex sexual harassment; how to investigate and prove disability discrimination; sexual harassment in the military; when the main US job‐discrimination law applies to small companies; how to investigate and prove racial discrimination; developments concerning race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; developments concerning discrimination against workers with HIV or AIDS; developments concerning discrimination based on refusal of family care leave; developments concerning discrimination against gay or lesbian employees; developments concerning discrimination based on colour; how to investigate and prove discrimination concerning based on colour; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; using statistics in employment discrimination cases; race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning gender discrimination in the workplace; discrimination in Japanese organizations in America; discrimination in the entertainment industry; discrimination in the utility industry; understanding and effectively managing national origin discrimination; how to investigate and prove hiring discrimination based on colour; and, finally, how to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace.

Looks at consumer research in Greater China including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Maps out the contributions within this area and guides future research. Examines the state of the art over the 1979‐97 period, with particular emphasis on the topics that have been researched, the extent of the theory development in the field and the methodologies used in conducting research. Uses content analysis to review 75 relevant articles. Suggests that, while a considerable breadth of topics have been researched, there remains much to be done, there is further room for theoretical development in Chinese consumer behaviour studies; and the methodologies used need improvement and further refinement.

Criticizes the attitude of separatism used in evaluating management performance. Asserts that looking at narrow functional areas does not provide a holistic picture of an organization, for example, production may reduce its costs by using inferior quality materials but marketing and sales may not be able to sell the product so their performance declines. Suggests that some organizations suffer from conflict between functional areas because they are evaluated on the outcomes from activities they control, affecting overall organizational performance. Indicates that asset investment decisions should be based on the interdependent relationship between accounting, finance and marketing departments, and that this can best be achieved if a cross‐functional team makes the asset investment decisions. Points out the inherent difficulties in evaluating intangible assets. Focuses on advertising and research and development (R&D) and how investments could be evaluated using functional and cross‐functional teams, based on financial data (on 126 firms) accessed from the Compustat PC Plus database. Takes a look at economic value‐added, which questions the differences between the accounting and economic models of a firm. Uses regression analysis to examine the impact of advertising, R&D and other explanatory variables on market value, accounting profitability and sales. Finds support for using cross‐functional teams in evaluating intangible asset investments. Recommends areas for further research.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing is split into seven sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Marketing strategy; Customer service; Promotion; Product management; Marketing research.

UNTIL the end of 1948 Mr. Nowell remains our President and his occupancy of the office has fulfilled all that we expected of him. It has been forceful and, we think, has left its mark upon us, his general statesmanship and complete sanity of outlook being shown whenever he had occasion to direct meetings or to speak to them. He does not now go into retirement as our past four presidents‐have done by the fiat of superannuation schemes ; he has what President Cashmore called the glory of going on for a number of years yet. He will therefore continue to exercise profound influence on public and other librarianship with the wisdom and power with which, as President, he has won general thanks.

Examines the tenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.