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Medical practice guidelines are increasingly being used by managed care plans to ensure quality of care while achieving cost reductions. However, it is unclear that physicians are complying with these clinical protocols. This paper reviews pertinent literature to assist in: understanding why physicians encounter different incentives for complying with guidelines; identifying initiatives that managed care plans can utilize in managing clinical guidelines; and, identifying a research agenda for investigating issues surrounding physician compliance with guidelines.

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.

Historians have long understood that transforming people into property was the defining characteristic of Atlantic World slavery. This chapter examines litigation in British colonial Vice Admiralty Courts in order to show how English legal categories and procedures facilitated this process of dehumanization. In colonies where people were classified as chattel property, litigants transformed local Vice Admiralty Courts into slave courts by analogizing human beings to ships and cargo. Doing so made sound economic sense from their perspective; it gave colonists instant access to an early modern English legal system that was centered on procedures and categories. But for people of African descent, it had decidedly negative consequences. Indeed, when colonists treated slaves as property, they helped to create a world in which Africans were not just like things, they were things. Through the very act of categorization, they rendered factual what had been a mere supposition: that Africans were less than human.

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.