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Looks at studies into the definition of design and management criteria for assembly cells with co‐operating robots. Examines task typologies into which the assembly process can be divided and discusses co‐ordination levels and control‐communication architectures. Also looks at the various phases of application development and how it covers many of the same areas of the manual assembly process. Concludes with a consideration of the three main classes of constraints between the actions which different robots have to carry out and states the co‐ordination level that robots have to maintain during constraint‐affected operations depends on these classes.

Outlines current research into multiple co‐operative robots and discusses the practicality of a set of experiments developed to study robot applications better and to verify different solution methodologies. Looks at the design criteria for co‐operating robot systems and describes the laboratory set up to study them.

Learning by doing can be costly, the more so the more complex the systems involved – just think of products such as space shuttles and organisations such as big supplier networks. Entering all new situations requires some learning, and in some situations learning can take place in a non‐cost environment in the form of simulations and role plays. This paper presents a methodology developed at the University of Kosice for managing quality systems in virtual organisations. The paper shows the principles, assumptions, and the procedure of a case role play for organisations establishing a virtual organisation to benefit from a lucrative opportunity that has emerged on the market. The paper speaks of the benefits of role play as both forum and tool for learning, especially in networked organisations. It seems evident that similar benefits would be achieved without the role play.

Gives a broad understanding of multi‐agent systems and relates it to the generative paradigm of studying complex systems. Demonstrates the functioning of the multi‐agent paradigm in some approaches in artificial intelligence and in some closely related fields. After sketching a specific approach to formalization of multi‐agent systems using tools and techniques of the theory of formal grammars and languages, gives a preview of the main developmental lines of the theory of grammar systems.

The aim of the present study is to synthesise the main aspects associated with human resources and their influence on the success or failure of strategic alliances. With this purpose, and starting from the strategic process of co‐operation, we analysed the role played by such variables as the management and leadership system, and the corporate culture or human resources practices in general in the formulation and implementation of an agreement. The study was carried out both from the perspective of the co‐operating firm and from the alliance's point of view. It also considers the particular characteristics of international alliances and its influence on the human resources management and the corporate culture.

There are few places in the literature on formal language syntax where tense is efficiently treated as part of the syntactical structure. In both natural languages and programming languages, cybernetically speaking, one encounters the fundamental concept of “verb phrase”. For information processing the COBOL programmer can construct the extended general form of verb commands containing tense as follows:

The ‘Tape Typewriter Plan’ is a plan for making possible a widespread co‐operation in documentation between libraries, while at the same time facilitating the internal clerical and cataloguing operations at individual libraries. The plan is based upon the use of a tape‐controlled typewriter and the associated use of the full capabilities of modern information processing machines (electronic computers and their related devices). Any individual library requires only a tape typewriter in order to enter the plan and to become a full co‐operator. By the exchange of tapes between libraries, the present enormous duplication of bibliographic work at co‐operating libraries can be markedly reduced, because keyboard operations performed at one library can be used to make catalogue cards at another. Conformity to any single classification system or to any specific catalogue card format is definitely not required by the plan, since the information processing machines operating on the tapes produced can make new tapes for other formats and can perform translations from one classification system to another. The information processing machines can also be used for rapid compilation of special indexes, lists, selected bibliographies, union catalogues, lists of holdings geographically, etc., for the documentary resources of all the co‐operating libraries. A most important aspect of the plan is that it will not require setting up a unique large‐scale universal documentation centre for processing, search, or storage. The plan does not require conformity in the choice of tape‐typewriter equipment to be employed. The plan does not require library ownership of computing equipment, nor does it depend upon any specific choice of computing equipment. The plan is shown to be self‐motivating, with participation at each library following from the library's own assessment of its self‐interest.

The National Central Library took over the responsibility for continuing the publication of BUCOP at the beginning of 1962, and the work of compilation was added to the normal routines of the Periodicals Union Catalogue. Coupled with the decision of the council of the World list of scientific periodicals to merge with BUCOP after the publication of its fourth edition, this has had the effect of reducing from three to one the number of reporting centres for libraries disposed to co‐operate in national union schemes embracing serials. In consequence, the NCL's serial catalogue, which is in the process of revision so as to conform as a whole to the new BUCOP principles of entry and arrangement, has to serve two purposes: as a working tool in handling serial applications received in connection with the interlibrary loan system, and as the source from which BUCOP's ‘copy’ is made up. Since the NCL's own collection of serials is small at present, we are to a large extent dependent on the goodwill of the co‐operating libraries not only for information on the extent of their holdings of a particular title but also for details concerning the title itself. Naturally we have access to the large serial collections held by libraries in the vicinity of the NCL, although staff time available constitutes a limiting factor in this respect, and we are exploring ways of increasing the supply of information on new serial titles from the publishers; however, the manner in which libraries notify us of their holdings, and the form of entry they use, must inevitably remain important factors governing the work of compilation, underlining the need for a greater degree of standardization of practice in recording serial publications.

Concentration and elimination on the suppliers' side are the result of increasing competition on open markets. Co‐operating with the intention “we are stronger in commune” is a strategy of the suppliers to react. On the spas' market more intensive competition does not lead nor to concentration neither to elimination. Following a German survey in 2001 only 20% of the spas co‐operated on the field of marketing. But the degree of co‐operation is very low. Mostly co‐operation is reduced to the marketing tool “communication”. Co‐operating on the entire field of marketing is an exception. The market situation forces the spas to more co‐operation to reduce costs and to realize synergies. Concerning co‐operation there is a big deficiency on the spas' market.

K G E HARRIS has given us some excellent reasons for not co‐operating (NLW July 1975), but fails to mention the following syndromes (also 13, curiously enough) which explain why we should co‐operate.