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On 18 October 1989, Miami‐based Florida Power and Light Company (FPL), Florida′s largest utility, became the first company outside Japan to win the Deming Prize. Awarded annually the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (and since 1986 outside Japan), the Prize recognises outstanding achievement in quality control management. Based on interviews with company representatives and a review of company documents, an explanation is presented of the implementation of a successful quality improvement programme in a service company. Topics discussed include the basic phases of such a programme – policy deployment, quality improvement teams, and quality in daily work – and a review of such a programme′s foundation elements: customer satisfaction, the plan/do/check/act circle, “management by facts”, and “respect for people”. Based on a literature review of other successful and less‐successful programmes, tentative prescriptions for implementing a successful quality circle and total improvement programme are presented, along with suggestions from FPL′s experience on the pitfalls to avoid.

ANOTHER Annual Meeting has come and gone. It was scarcely to be expected that the meeting at Bradford would be a record in the number of members attending, seeing that it is only three years ago since the Association met in the neighbouring city of Leeds, and that Bradford cannot boast either the historical associations or the architectural and scenic setting of many other towns. For the most part therefore the members who did attend, attended because they were interested in the serious rather than the entertainment or excursion side of the gathering, which was so far perhaps to the advantage of the meetings and discussions. Nevertheless, the actual number of those present—about two hundred—was quite satisfactory, and none, we are assured, even if the local functions were the main or an equal element of attraction, could possibly have regretted their visit to the metropolis of the worsted trade. Fortunately the weather was all that could be desired, and under the bright sunshine Bradford looked its best, many members, who expected doubtless to find a grey, depressing city of factories, being pleasingly disappointed with the fine views and width of open and green country quite close at hand.

THE Glasgow meeting of the Library Association, which was the thirtieth of the annual series, may be described as the largest, best organised and most sociable ever held. To begin with, the weather, for Glasgow, was phenomenally good, and in consequence there was an absence of that climatological bad temper which frequently results from rain; and another good arrangement was the concentration of most of the members in a few hotels instead of being scattered all over the place. These circumstances all made for sociability, and greatly helped to make the local programme a complete success. The arrangements made by Mr. Barrett, his assistants and the Local Reception Committee were very complete, and the information‐desk part of the business side of the Conference may be described as perfect. On the professional side nothing of special importance was accomplished, and, as has already been remarked in these columns the programme of papers was poor, uninspiring and tame. The only paper which forsook the arid ruts of technology was Mr. Tedder's able and suggestive survey of the “Librarian and his relations with books,” which, however, was quite inadequately discussed, although it reached a higher level than any other contribution. The most successful papers were those of Messrs. Sindall and Davenport, both with lime‐light effects, and it may also be said, both given with remarkable ability. A first‐rate note was struck in the presidential address, which took a high line and was stimulating in quality, as well as being eminently practical in one or two respects. The plea for more effective limitation of the newspaper element in libraries was rather surprising, coming as it did so soon after the very different finding of the Cambridge meeting in 1905; and one wonders if the aspect of the Glasgow district reading‐rooms with their lavish provision of 668 newspapers had anything to do with this plea. It is, at any rate, a subject for reflection if it is really worth while equipping a library system with 668 newspapers, and only recognising monthly and quarterly periodical literature to the extent of 575. In Glasgow, as in many other places, Continental and American scientific, artistic and technological periodicals are very largely neglected in favour of all kinds of comparatively valueless broadsheets, which are filed at great cost and have only a very narrow local interest to recommend them. Mr. Carnegie's remarks on librarianship were very much to the point, and it is to be hoped he will yet see his way to make practical application of his own theories by endowing a central Library Institute for the systematic training of librarians and the control of bibliographical work in Britain. The laying of the memorial‐stone of the new Mitchell Library building was a most important event in the history of Glasgow, and in two or three years one may hope to see the valuable and varied stock now inadequately housed in Miller Street transferred to a splendid new home.

Prominence is given in this issue to the interesting Diamond Jubilee celebration held last month in connection with the Norwich Public Library. It was a courageous but entirely proper thing to hold this celebration in war time, because although it was calculated to raise opposition from short‐sighted people, at the same time it was good policy to affirm that the Public Library is an essential part of national economy even in the greatest of wars. Excellent arguments on behalf of this last proposition were advanced at that meeting in the happy speech made by Mr. L. Stanley Jast, which we hope to see published in even fuller form sooner or later, and equally in the letter from Sir Frederic Kenyon. This gains greatly in force from the fact that Sir Frederic is not only an officer in the Army, but is, we believe, at this moment serving in France. If any of our readers have had doubts about the present seasonableness of their work, and there may conceivably be such, they may wisely ponder the letter and again take heart of grace. As for the celebration as a whole, it was, as we have said, opportune; it was also skilfully engineered and advertised, and was an undoubted success upon which the Norwich Library Committee and Mr. G. A. Stephen have every reason to congratulate themselves.

THE commercial world, as a rule, is not the most enthusiastic supporter of Public Libraries, the attitude of the average English business man towards them being one of tolerant contempt, based largely upon the conviction that there is no money in them. He is also misled as to their value for business purposes by the occasional outbursts of irresponsible journalists, who go daft on the fiction question, with no more authority behind their statements than the figures of a single lending department plus the Fleet Street imagination and the professional desire to turn out a sensational paragraph which will go the round of the newspapers. Largely for these reasons, and partly because no great endeavour is made to educate the business man in the commercial value of a good library, he is permitted to become indifferent to the value of institutions whose methods he adopts for his own business purposes without being aware of the fact. Yet, it is true, that practically all modern business methods of accounts, card indexing, vertical filing and general adjustability of office systems are derived from the actual practice of Public Libraries. This was shown most strikingly at the Business exhibitions held at Olympia, in London, and just recently at the “Premier Congrès International du Bureau Moderne,” held at Paris from June 23rd to 30th. At all these exhibitions librarians beheld their own methods of cataloguing, indexing and filing being exploited by stationers, furniture dealers and library furnishers as their own original inventions. Not a word as to the librarian pioneers who had made all this adjustability and expansion possible by their experiments and patient search after scientific flexibility of method. However, it is part of the nature of things that the ideas of the mere hermit‐librarian should be exploited by the shrewd man of business, and librarians should rejoice that, at last, an universal service has been rendered to the world of commerce, which, though not generally recognized, must be accepted as a benefit which a body of mere officials have unconsciously created for their commercial brethren.

The number of animals raised and slaughtered for food in the U.S. has increased dramatically since 1945. We examine how two factors have been fundamental in this expansion of “meat” consumption: the market and the state. U.S. agricultural policies that emerged form the New Deal centered on price supports and production controls. While these policies were aimed at controlling supply, they instead spurred intensive and industrial techniques that resulted in continuous overproduction, especially in corn, wheat and soybeans. As a result, farm organizations and the state promoted “meat” production and consumption as a way to alleviate the surplus. To handle this expansion, intensive and industrial methods reshaped “meat” production, resulting in more oppressive living conditions for animals raised as “meat”. We explore this connection between the market, state policy and animal oppression. We also briefly analyze how this relationship has likewise affected workers and peripheral nations in the world economy.

Human resource management (HRM) processes are increasingly artificial intelligence (AI)-driven, and HRM supports the general digital transformation of companies' viable competitiveness. This paper points out possible positive and negative effects on HRM, workplaces and workers’ organizations along the HR processes and its potential for competitive advantage in regard to managerial decisions on AI implementation regarding augmentation and automation of work.

A systematic literature review that includes 62 international journals across different disciplines and contains top-tier academic and German practitioner journals was conducted. The literature analysis applies the resource-based view (RBV) as a lens through which to explore AI-driven HRM as a potential source of organizational capabilities.

The analysis shows four ambiguities for AI-driven HRM that might support sustainable company development or might prevent AI application: job design, transparency, performance and data ambiguity. A limited scholarly discussion with very few empirical studies can be stated. To date, research has mainly focused on HRM in general, recruiting and HR analytics in particular.

The four ambiguities' context-specific potential for capability building in firms is indicated, and research avenues are developed.

This paper critically explores AI-driven HRM and structures context-specific potential for capability building along four ambiguities that must be addressed by HRM to strategically contribute to an organization's competitive advantage.