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Derek Smith is a retailer with conviction. As managing director of Audiotronic Holdings, parent company of Laskys chain of 31 hi‐fi shops, he believes that the business he is involved in is well on the way to becoming a major consumer industry. “Our objective,” he says, “is to establish a national chain of retail stores selling a range of home entertainment equipment.”

Data from a study of small firms are used to examine the extent to which Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) have been successful in appealing to the needs of small firms. It explores the principles underlying the formation of TECs and suggests that insufficient attention was given to the role of such firms at this stage. The results of the study suggest that in small firms the level of awareness of TECs and use of their services remains low. It is argued that due account needs to be taken by TECs of the particular concerns of small business owners and that TEC staff should develop personal contact with their customers. It is considered whether this might be achieved through the Business Links initiative.

This paper uses case study data to explore the potential of Human Resource Management (HRM) within small firms. It is argued that despite a considerable amount of evidence that emphasises the distinct human resource problems that small firms face because of their size, there is no reason to assume a priori that a formalised HRM approach cannot provide solutions to these — provided that it is sufficiently flexible. The article cautions against accepting the ‘informal’ approach to managing people often associated with small firms as an inevitable or unconditional ‘good’, demonstrating the complexities of small firm employment relations through case studies of four small firms that have adopted the Investors In People initiative. This initiative is shown to embody key principles of HRM thinking and to have provided viable answers to the human resource problems faced by the case companies. The article concludes with a discussion of the issues that will need to be faced if the management of human resources in small firms is to be opened up to new and innovative ideas in a manner that is genuinely constructive and beneficial.

Addresses the workplace issues posed by HIV/AIDS within the hotel and catering industry. In particular, examines the theoretical risks which may be peculiar to organizations in this industrial sector. Suggests that the “objective” risk assessment provided by “experts” is not necessarily accepted nor understood by all employees. Develops a model of risk assessment which takes account of perceived risk, reflecting subjective and organizational influences to provide an adequate understanding of likely employee responses. Uses the model to interpret data from a small survey of hotel and catering management trainees and uses the results to point to areas of further research and to matters which merit further discussion by hotel and catering employers.

The issue of AIDS/HIV is currently a concern of many employing organizations. Considers the contextual factors which surround AIDS as a workplace issue in terms of legislation, state policy, and trade union and employer positions. This is followed by an analysis of current UK corporate AIDS policies. Identifies two approaches to policy formulation: definsive and humanistic. The former regards AIDS/HIV largely in instrumental terms whereas the latter frames the issue as one of social justice and responsibility. Considers the implications of each position and explores the prospects for future research and practice.

The paper aims to paper an overview of a completed doctoral thesis which pursued the development of underlying theory (ontology) to give coherence to research in the information systems (IS) project management space.

As a result of the considerable concern about a lack of underlying theory in project management the author has chosen to investigate the development of underlying theory to serve as a regional ontology to give debates undertaken to improve IS project management coherence. The thesis is a critical interpretive a priori effort. In the pursuit of the goal of developing a regional ontology, the notions, concepts and theories related to existentialism and social construction were investigated. These were investigated because the research literature places considerable emphasis on the need to understand as‐lived project experiences.

One of the significant outcomes that results from this research is the development of a proposed regional ontology. This was achieved by fusing the theories of Heidegger's Dasein, Bourdieu's “Theory of practice” and Maturana and Varela's “Theory of living systems”. The regional ontology is a consolidation of the various concepts defined by these researchers. These theories complement each other to give rise to a relational model of social construction which also has related phenomenological, existential and biological perspectives.

The proposed ontology was interpreted using the popular alternatives that have recently emerged alongside the established best practices such as project management body of knowledge. The perspectives of complex, responsive processes of relating, the temporary organisation, agility and organisational becoming were reviewed using the regional ontology. The interpretation process illustrated that the regional ontology is able to provide a more fundamental and coherent context to subsume and delimit these emerging new frames.

The thesis also discusses the researcher's view of contemporary project management practice that accords with the regional ontology principles. Through argument and the contemporary context of IS project management practice that was sketched, the principles of the regional ontology are illuminated. Through this process it was possible to claim that established best practice modes of education should not exist in isolation but should instead be situated within a wider analogical context that embraces the values of learning, becoming and innovating.

Describes the origins and development of equal opportunities policy in the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS), and the creation of the NICS Equal Opportunities Unit. Explains the mode of operation of the Unit, the selection of the key variables selected for monitoring purposes, and how the Unit′s priorities are determined. Goes on to identify what are considered to be the key issues for the future, and concludes by noting that citizens have a right to expect Government to be at the forefront in delivering equality of opportunity in employment.

Boys and girls are staying longer at school. Nobody disputes it, and national authorities like the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Employment and Productivity tell us it is so.

Last December, commenting on the CLEA proposals for regional machinery in England beyond school level, the Committee of Directors of Polytechnics said:

In May 1973 an article in this journal highlighted some of the problems faced by college welfare officers. In spite of being on call seven days a week and working, typically, a 70‐hour week, these indispensable members of staff are paid less than a lecturer.