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The aim of the paper is to examine alternative methods of regulating prices and/or profits of privatised utilities in low‐income countries with a view to identifying their strengths and weaknesses.

The economics of regulation literature has favoured the use of a price cap over rate of return or cost of service regulation because of its greater incentive effects. A third alternative, sliding‐scale regulation, has been put forward as a compromise between the price cap and a controlled rate of return, which is said to combine the merits of both methods. This paper considers the operation of a price cap, rate of return regulation and sliding‐scale regulation in the context of low‐income economies by reviewing the theory in relation to the conditions likely to be found in low‐income economies.

It is concluded that the case for the use of a price cap is much reduced in low‐income economies. This is because of its information requirements, need for regulatory expertise and, more broadly, the institutional endowment found in many low‐income countries.

It is recognised that this conclusion is tentative and deserves further research, comparing theory and practice.

Countries need to consider carefully which method of regulation will work best in the context of the institutions of the country, rather than simply copy a method from the developed world.

This is one of the first papers to challenge the prevailing belief that price cap regulation is superior to rate of return regulation in the context of economic development.

Privatisation which was made popular as a policy instrument in the western economies during the early 1980s has now become a global economic phenomenon. The Malaysian response to it, however, was relatively early. When the Thatcher government in Britain and the Reagan administration in the United States started their economic liberalisation policy during the period, the Malaysian government under the administration of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed immediately saw its potential not only in balancing the role of government and the private sector but also as instruments for lessening the national debt burden and attaining national economic restructuring.

One of the main obstacles to the flourishment of African entrepreneurship is financial constraint. Existing studies on the nexus between entrepreneurship and financial development are inconclusive, while the position of African economies remains unknown. The purpose of this paper is to empirically study the impact of financial development on entrepreneurship in Africa.

This study utilizes data of 20 selected countries in Africa over a period of 2006–2017. International Monetary Fund (IMF) data on broad-based financial development were combined with World Bank Entrepreneurship database. This study uses system generalized methods of moments (system GMM) technique and the recently developed dynamic panel threshold based on dynamic panel GMM.

The following findings emerged: financial development does not spur entrepreneurship in Africa; there is a threshold at which financial development improves the level of African entrepreneurship; and the tendency of financial development to improve the level of entrepreneurship is conditioned on conducive business regulation and strong institutional quality at a specific threshold value.

This is one of the few studies that examines the impact of financial development on entrepreneurship in Africa. This study shows that the financial development relies on the effectiveness of regulatory environment to extend loan and other financial services to new firm entrants. In addition, the results of this study reveal that the assumption of linearity in the nexus between finance and entrepreneurship is not tenable for the case of Africa. Therefore, policymakers should keep on developing African financial system to accelerate the pace of entrepreneurship development.

Previous studies have demonstrated that an autonomy-supportive supervision style is associated with improved well-being and positive behaviours for supervisees. However, autonomy-supportive training (AST) has yet to be tailored to suit supervisors in low-skilled occupations for whom traditional pedagogical approaches may be inappropriate. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and preliminary evaluation of AST for these supervisors, using self-determination theory (SDT) and andragogical principles of adult learning.

SDT and andragogical principles were systematically integrated to develop (a 3 h) AST programme. The training sessions were trialled with 11 first-line supervisors in New Zealand as a preliminary evaluation of AST. The evaluation used open-ended questions following Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model and incorporated the trainer’s reflections.

Supervisors found AST relevant, easy to understand and suited to their approach to learning. Trainer’s reflections also provided insight into the challenges in conducting such training for supervisors in low-skilled occupations and the article makes suggestions to address these challenges.

AST can be successfully tailored to first-line supervisors, indicating that an autonomy-supportive style of leadership is relevant for those employed in low-skilled occupations. This initial evaluation provides a foundation for future studies to conduct higher-level assessment of AST.

AST can be utilised to provide first-line supervisors with access to improved leadership development opportunities. Challenges of conducting this kind of training programme in a context of low-skilled occupations are addressed and recommendations made for organisations and trainers.

This study is novel as it demonstrates the development of AST, a leadership skills training, tailored to suit the needs of an understudied group, supervisors in low-skilled occupations.

Evaluation of training is observed more in theory than in practice. The literature contains a great deal of confusion over terminology, with differing approaches to training and development resulting in differing approaches to evaluation and protagonists of alternative schools claiming mutual incompatibility. Reviews the training evaluation literature to clarify concepts and options and argues for a mixed approach. Reports a case study of applying a mixture of evaluation methods drawn different paradigms. Finally, suggests that, while competence‐based approaches offer some advantages in evaluation, they will not resolve the issues addressed.

There is a lack of research covering the training requirements of organisations implementing highly demanding information systems (HDISs). The aim of this paper is to help in the understanding of appropriate training requirements for such systems.

This research investigates the training delivery within a customer‐facing organisation that successfully implemented an HDIS. A case study was undertaken to identify resource allocation during the implementation lifecycle and training guidelines were prepared following in‐depth interviews with client and supplier consultant practitioners.

Organisations implementing HDISs should invest in training throughout the implementation lifecycle. Two areas of training were found to be of importance: end‐user training to avoid technical‐isomorphism and post‐implementation training to avoid system atrophy.

Literature shows that training attracts the smallest proportion of the implementation resources. This research shows, however, the critical role training plays in delivering a successful HDIS implementation.

The phasing of training requirements allows training resources to be allocated more effectively into end‐user and post‐implementation training, which is necessary for the full benefits of HDIS to be realised.

Three case studies demonstrate areas in which management development programmes are successfully carried out. Management development of Kenyan building contractors through seminars and practical remedial assignments; management development of Ethiopian consultant‐managers involving all group levels in the firm or factory; and development of black entrepreneurs in South Africa by hands‐on training in regional and vernacular languages. Thirteen postulated attributes of success have been distilled from this research, and from an examination of the cultural and environmental factors affecting black managers as trainees, consultants, and businessmen. They include a discussion, of concern for immediate improvement, of in‐house supportive groups, integrating experienced managers into the programme, a system of rewards and penalties, learning‐by‐doing, total commitment and enthusiasm, an expanded range of visual aids, follow‐up coaching on the job, team work, outside evaluation, etc.

Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.

Since the first Volume of this Bibliography there has been an explosion of literature in all the main areas of business. The researcher and librarian have to be able to uncover specific articles devoted to certain topics. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume III, in addition to the annotated list of articles as the two previous volumes, contains further features to help the reader. Each entry within has been indexed according to the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus and thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid information retrieval. Each article has its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. The first Volume of the Bibliography covered seven journals published by MCB University Press. This Volume now indexes 25 journals, indicating the greater depth, coverage and expansion of the subject areas concerned.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 and its amendment – the Trade and Competitive Act of 1988 – are unique not only in the history of the accounting and auditing profession, but also in international law. The Acts raised awareness of the need for efficient and adequate internal control systems to prevent illegal acts such as the bribery of foreign officials, political parties and governments to secure or maintain contracts overseas. Its uniqueness is also due to the fact that the USA is the first country to pioneer such a legislation that impacted foreign trade, international law and codes of ethics. The research traces the history of the FCPA before and after its enactment, the role played by the various branches of the United States Government – Congress, Department of Justice, Securities Exchange commission (SEC), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); the contributions made by professional associations such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICFA), the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the American Bar Association (ABA); and, finally, the role played by various international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). A cultural, ethical and legalistic background will give a better understanding of the FCPA as wll as the rationale for its controversy.