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Despite, or perhaps even because of, the economic uncertainties of the period, the 1970s witnessed a radical transformation of the British distributive system. Most of the changes which occurred were similar to those experienced elsewhere in the Western world, and in a review of developments in EEC countries, Dawson has suggested that the impact of these changes on society could be similar to that produced by the Industrial Revolution. In Britain at least, the changes in distribution were, and remain, a result of very marked changes in society: most notably the change in consumption patterns brought about by endemic inflation, increasing unemployment and periodic world energy crises. The result has been increased competition, a search for greater efficiency and diversification of traditional product lines. Thus the British distribution system throughout the 1970s was dominated by the trend to mass merchandising, by the emergence of large firms and a consequent increase of corporate power and by the appearance of new distribution forms. While many of the conditions and developments experienced in the 1970s are expected to continue into the 1980s, it has been predicted (Distributive Industry Training Board 1980) that by the 1990s further revolutionary changes are likely to have occurred, particularly as a result of widespread automation involving new technology. The industry is, therefore, in the middle of a period of very rapid change.

Moving average trading strategies are examined for trading ten major currencies during the 1997‐2001 time period. Both a traditional trend‐following moving average cross over strategy and a contrarian strategy are tested. Following a simple moving average cross over out performed, on average, the contrarian strategy. However, neither strategy consistently outperformed a simple strategy of holding U.S. dollars during the four‐year test period.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer, who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

As cyclones, hurricanes, floods and fires wreak havoc with communities round the world, the warnings that global warming might make the weather even worse and less predictable are at last being recognized by even the most stubborn of “head‐in‐the‐sand” optimists. So how do you stay in business if you are flooded out, burned down or blown away? Surely you have a plan?

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to digest format.

Centuries of protection have impeded innovation in the textile industry. As these protections elapse, the industry must contend with increasing competition from abroad. This raises the question: will more R&D expenditure enhance competitiveness? To assess this, we measure firm profitability using Tobin's q, the ratio of the stock market valuation of the firm compared to the book value of the firm's assets. Q values are compared to other financial ratios, and then used to assess the impact of research and development (R&D) spending. A Mann‐Whitney rank test indicates firms that conduct R&D are not more profitable, as measured by q, than those that do not conduct R&D.

Research into the impact of the interaction between budgetary participation and budget emphasis on managerial performance and job related attitudes has failed to provide consistent results. Researchers are in general agreement that aspects of national culture, affecting the behaviour and attitudes of individuals within organisations, have to be taken into account. Motivated by the encouraging findings of Harrison's (1992) study in Singapore, this study is a partial replication of Harrison (1992, 1993) in the context of Indonesia. It explores further whether a high budget emphasis is an effective superior evaluative style in nations categorised as high power‐distance (PD) and low individualism. Specifically it examines the effect of participation on the budget emphasis in a superior's evaluative style and dependent variables: job satisfaction and managerial performance. In addition to the structured instruments used in prior research, open ended questions captured attitudes to management control issues. The results indicate that in Indonesia a low budget emphasis improves managerial performance, while high participation increases Indonesian managers' job satisfaction. This result does not wholly support previous research findings and leads to discussion of Indonesian national characteristics which potentially contribute to the impact of a superior's evaluative style in Indonesia. This research suggests that the same performance evaluative style is unequally effective across the nations common to Hofstede's cultural dimensions.

The behaviour of health care professionals is known to be influenced, in part, by their method of remuneration and the financial incentives they face. Describes how the Medical Corps of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) went about choosing a reimbursement method to increase incentives for dentists and decrease waiting time for the public. Based on a questionnaire sent to all 23 dentists working in a unique IDF civilian dental clinic, and on other information which was available on the productivity and income of these dentists, a new method of remuneration was suggested and accepted, by which a combined method of fee‐for‐service and salary will be introduced. The base hourly pay and per crown fee were set on levels which provide for a larger compensation range and increase the incentive for improved productivity levels. This suggested method will be investigated further and re‐evaluated one year after its implementation.

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) has received significant attention as the tool of the future for modeling information systems. However, prior to the development of the UML, IS modeling was done with tools such as Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs) and Entity‐Relationship Diagrams (ERDs). These tools have been developed over many years of information systems development and taught to thousands of information systems professionals. Many organizations continue to use these tools, and many other organizations use these tools but are considering switching to the UML. While the UML is being promoted as the future of IS modeling, there is little empirical evidence that suggests it is a better tool than the traditional approach. This research seeks to inform the decision to adopt the UML over traditional modeling tools by examining the efficacy of the two modeling tools in the identification of design defects in an information system model. The study involved MIS students attempting to find defects embedded in a model of an information system. The study finds that students using UML were able to find approximately twice as many of the defects injected in the model as those using traditional modeling tools.

This study defined and developed a four-item scale to measure motivation to serve (MTS) then correlated it with Cerff’s Motivation to Lead’s two scales as well as Affective and Normative Commitment scores. A convenience sample of 89 participants came from a non-denominational church in Oklahoma City, OK. The MTS showed significant correlation with Normative Commitment but not with the two Motivation-to-Lead scales or Affective Commitment. The benefit of this study lies in the development of a new scale to measure Motivation to Serve and the understanding that the new scale is significantly correlated with Normative Commitment.

Loneliness is known to adversely impact employee health, performance and affective commitment. This study involves a quantitative cross-sectional analysis of online survey data reported by adults employed in the United States (n = 5,927) to explore how loneliness and other related factors may influence avoidable absenteeism and turnover intention.

Worker loneliness was assessed using the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3). Composite variables were constructed as proxy measures of worker job and personal resources. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine independent variable effects on dependent outcomes of (a) work days missed in the last month due to stress (stress-related absenteeism) and (b) likelihood to quit within the next year (turnover intention).

The job resources of social companionship, work-life balance and satisfaction with communication had significant negative relationships to loneliness in the SEM, as did the personal resources of resilience and less perceived alienation. Results further show lonely workers have significantly greater stress-related absenteeism (p = 0.000) and higher turnover intention ratings (p = 0.000) compared to workers who are not lonely. Respondent demographics (age, race and gender) and other occupational characteristics also produced significant outcomes.

Study findings underscore the importance of proactively addressing loneliness among workers and facilitating job and personal resource development as an employee engagement and retention strategy.

Loneliness substantially contributes to worker job withdrawal and has negative implications for organizational effectiveness and costs.

This paper examine beneficiary women's awareness of the harmful effects of traditional cooking fuels and the benefits of cleaner cooking fuel (LPG) in the Indian state of Haryana after the inception of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.

Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis H test were used for the data analysis.

The paper finds that the women of the scheduled caste were highly aware of the hazards of traditional cooking fuel. They perceived that the usage of LPG led to significant health and environmental improvements. However, the refilling was low among the respondents. So, the only low awareness was not the cause of the low refilling of LPG among Ujjwala beneficiaries.

Technological advancement, accessibility and successful adoption require convergence with socio-economic and institutional aspects. It was evident that focus on technology might not necessarily serve developmental purposes if it is not integrated correctly with socio-economic and institutional factors. These should have conversed with the household's needs, preferences, affordability, social structures, policy support and delivery mechanism, as it was observed that, in different cases, high-end technologies have limited access.

This study shows that the low awareness is not the barrier to the adoption of cleaner cooking technologies in India. So, the policymakers have to revive and further investigate the real cause of the low adoption of cleaner cooking technologies in India.