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The urban population in the developing world will double by the year 2030 increasing the pressure in the housing sector that already suffers from the lack of adequate and affordable housing. Egypt, similar to most countries in the developing world, witnesses a huge deficit in the housing units needed for low-income groups. Since the mid Nineteen Seventies, the Egyptian government adopted and implemented a variety of low-cost housing development strategies including: site and services schemes, core housing projects, partially completed housing units in apartment blocks, and totally finished housing projects. The huge informal housing sector in Egypt has proved the ability of the low-income groups to build for their own-selves. Thus, the incremental housing approach was one of the approaches that were adopted by the Egyptian government to solve the housing problem. Ebny Baitak or “Build Your House” is an incremental housing approach and one of the approaches undertaken by the Ministry of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Development within the National Housing Program to solve the housing problems of low-income groups in Egypt. This paper discusses the recent Egyptian experience in encouraging the participation of low-income groups in the construction process of their own houses through an incremental housing program “Ebny Baitak project”. The paper also derives the implications that could be learned from this experience towards better application in the future.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

The purpose of this paper is to support the application of a combined BPM (business process management)/SOA (service‐oriented architecture) approach and contribute to the body of knowledge on the business value of SOA.

This case study highlights the promising results of a process reengineering project at Belgacom Mobile, Belgium's largest mobile telecommunications operator. The reengineering effort centered around a key automation pillar involving in particular the optimization of the SIM card ordering process. SOA principles were applied to ensure both the flexibility of the redesigned process and its capability of dealing with newly emerging SIM card types. This case demonstrates the potential benefits of combining BPM and SOA concepts to establish IT‐enabled process innovation.

In terms of performance improvement, the studied project resulted in: increased process flexibility and consistency, considerably shorter lead times, and enhanced process control.

The findings from this case study present useful insights for other companies trying to reap the benefits of combined BPM and SOA. However, the single case study approach presents some limitations to the generalizability of the proposed learning points and concepts. Some case specific features such as the sector or company size might influence the generalizability. Nevertheless, the paper rather intends to trigger conceptual thinking about IT‐enabled process innovation and an architectural approach.

The added value of this project, which contributes to the general understanding of SOA potential for BPM, lies in its innovative approach, whereby product and process are separated by means of production process ID creation. The redesign approach thus provides a sustainable answer to the ever shortening life cycle of products and technologies. In particular process practitioners will find value in reading the learning points from this paper.

Addresses what “management” means in a multidisciplinary professional team. Looks at one particular profession – psychiatry – in which multidisciplinary teams are common and often problematic. Considers some of the issues that arise in the management of such teams, and particularly the tendency for competing professionals to wish to colonize each others′ area of operation. Proposes that the key to managing such teams is to have a clear role of problem definition within the team; someone needs to ensure that the most suitable care is provided for each patient, even if that care is outside their own competence. This activity is similar to that of senior management in other sectors, where problem definition tends to be associated with senior management. The management of professionals in multidisciplinary teams requires someone to be given a role as “wise generalist”.

Reviews the management role of consultant psychiatrists in the light of recent NHS reforms. Tries to identify the needs of clinicians and their patients and what is causing dissatisfaction within the profession. Examines various reforms. Concludes that although difficult, the care leadership within the psychiatric area should lie with the consultant psychiatrist who should have the experience necessary in order to define the qualifications and care necessary for each patient.

Cooperation between organisations, particularly in the public sector, is often attempted through setting up small joint committees, teams or planning groups, with members drawn from each of the cooperating organisations. The experience of such teams is not always happy. Dixon has pointed out that the result of a joint approach may be an increase in conflict rather than cooperation. Their members may regard such interorganisational teams as, usually, a frustrating waste of time, but occasionally as a vehicle for achieving some of the things they want to achieve.

Draws on a large group of research projects on the management use of information systems in the British National Health Service. Argues that information systems are just one part of the system of information by which the manager knows what is going on, and within which he or she constructs problems. Compares the advantages and disadvantages of four ways in which a manager may know about what is going on: information systems, gossip, walking about, and experience and imagination. Considers the effectiveness of these four for problem construction. Suggests that setting information systems in the context of other parts of the manager′s system of information may enable both the designers and the users of such systems to consider more carefully when and how their systems can be of use to senior managers in problem construction ‐ for it is more important for senior managers to be able to construct problems than to solve them.

The last two years have seen a plethora of articles discussing the impact of microcomputers on our lives. This article discusses a strange and unique use for some of the facilities now available as a consequence of recent developments in computers. For the last few years the authors have been developing both a method and computer software which is intended to help people think about and make use of their ideas. This is in contrast to the more common use for computers, where they are seen as number‐crunchers able to deal at one extreme with the payroll and, at the other, complicated mathematical programming problems. It has been our intention to exploit the potential computers have for enabling groups of people to explore their ideas in a more careful and systematic way than has hitherto been possible.

Introduction In 1978, at the Operational Research Society Annual Conference, Ackoff presented two “state of the art” type papers, which were subsequently published. This article considers those views that are particularly concerned with the practice of OR, follows that with some reflections from practical work which exemplify and elaborate the concepts and ideas that Ackoff presented (with the intention not so much of assessing Ackoff's views as of inspecting the obstacles in the way of those who may wish to follow his suggestions) and finally summarises the experience of my colleagues and myself in following these suggestions.

Mapping techniques offer a problem‐solving faculty for individuals and groups; they help managers access and build on personal wisdom and work as an effective adjunct to such creativity techniques as brainstorming, force field analysis and lateral thinking, directing the creativity released into usable channels. A case study involving a group considering the issue of company diversification into tourism draws the conclusion that knowing there is an explicit technique for handling the output of creative thinking will encourage greater input at the idea production stage.