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THE MIXED reaction to the proposal for a diploma of higher education appears to be based not on the qualities or defects of the curriculum for the diploma—for no‐one yet really knows what it is going to be—but on attitudes which relate not to educational problems, but to social or political assumptions. The great British public has never wanted to spend more than it must on education. Expenditure on universities was never questioned when it was a fraction of the budget: since it has been a significant figure, the government of the day, whatever its complexion, has sought to economise. The polytechnics were supposed to be cheaper than universities; four term years cheaper than three term years. Now it is two‐year diplomas that are cheaper than three or four year degrees. No‐one with experience of the various changes in educational policy made by successive governments can, it seems to me, be other than cynical about the educational motives of politicians in making changes in the educational system. The case for the introduction of a two‐year course for a diploma in higher education is that many students would prefer to undertake a shorter course, with the possibility of topping it up later to degree standard if they wish to do so. This is presumably one example of the current fashionable phrase ‘continuous education’. Bodies such as the AUT and some members of professional associations fear that the introduction of the diploma will lead to a reduction in standards in the education students receive. The AUT also thinks it will affect the salaries of teaching staff.

Knowledge of the management issues for developing new bank offerings efficiently is limited. Furthermore, recent research suggests that organisational learning can contribute greatly to the success of innovation projects. The aims of this paper are to provide a detailed description of the development process of a new financial product and to identify learning actions that may contribute to its effectiveness.

Reports findings from a qualitative, longitudinal case study of a well‐known French bank.

The results revealed an informal development process consisting of a sequence of issues to solve and decisions to make.

Though observations fit with the theoretical model, the findings cannot be generalized due to the use of a qualitative methodology. Thus, selecting a development project that brings variance to the scope and degree of innovativeness could enrich the observed learning mechanisms. Second, as services are very heterogeneous, further research should be done on the development processes of different new services, for example standardised versus customised. Third, mechanisms of adoption or avoidance of learning procedures remain to be explored extensively. Understanding the reasons of choice and adoption of learning strategies according to the environment and nature of the project could lead to further managerial recommendations.

Implications for banks to encourage learning during innovation are discussed and several opportunities for further research are suggested.

An informal development process is revealed, consisting of a sequence of issues to solve and decisions to make. Multiple learning actions and strategies are identified that enhance process effectiveness and efficiency.

SATURDAY MORNING. The morning after the night before. The night before was the 5.30 to 9.00 shift. Time to have a quick perusal of the professional literature to see what our elders and betters have been writing. Time to read Alan Day's ‘Comment’ (NLW October) before the first of the punters arrive in search of information, with the light of science in their eyes.

When compared with the field of new product development, research on new services has seen fewer developments and offers less comprehensive insights. This paper tries to fill this gap by providing empirical findings from two qualitative longitudinal case studies of new service development. Knowledge on the management issues for developing new bank offerings efficiently is limited. Furthermore, recent research suggests that organisational learning can contribute greatly to the success of innovation projects. The aims of this paper are to provide a detailed description of the development process of a new financial product and to identify learning actions that may contribute to its effectiveness.

The paper reports findings from a qualitative, longitudinal case study of a well‐known French bank, and of a retailer. The research focuses on the description of the process, the organisational issues involved and the decision making during the development process.

The findings lead to the proposition of a model of new service development comprising a strong organisational learning component. Research and managerial implications are discussed for ways to better understand the new service development process and to enhance its effectiveness. The results reveal an informal development process consisting of a sequence of issues to solve and decisions to make. Multiple learning actions and strategies are identified that enhance the process's effectiveness and efficiency.

Generalisation of the proposed NSD model will require further qualitative and quantitative investigations. For the qualitative part, observations of the development of standardised offers are necessary to enrich the initial framework. Furthermore, non‐standardised offers would constitute a specific research field, given the dimensions of complexity and divergence of the delivery processes. For the quantitative part, the impact of learning process on results of the development may be assessed on the basis of measurements used in similar contexts, such as the impact of learning on the success of joint ventures.

Findings suggest that learning during innovation should be supported for banks and retailers. Several opportunities for further research are therefore suggested.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest an integrated framework for designing, implementing and evaluating a customer relationship marketing (CRM) system in service companies, based on a gap analysis.

The paper summarizes key findings of previous research on CRM internal (organizational) success/failure factors, adds a customer perspective on CRM expectations and perceptions, and links these internal and external factors using a systemic gap approach.

The paper finds that viewing a relationship as a value and as a quality driver should lead managers to consider expectations as a mean to design appropriate interaction flows with customers. Also, relationship expectations from customers' point of view could be used as a segmentation variable to identify customer relationship profiles and address them with specific means. Finally, the integrated perspective underlines the importance of coordination and coherence among all organizational, technological and human components of the CRM system for the effective relationship quality management. Thus, the suggested DIE CRM gap model can be used by managers as a relationship quality diagnosis and problem‐recovery tool leading to recommendations at each stage of their action plan.

The integration of customer‐related CRM success factors as well as the suggested gap measurement approach opens several research opportunities in both methodological and conceptual issues on assessing a CRM strategy.

In the process of designing, implementing and evaluating a CRM strategy and system, managers should integrate customers' expectations and reactions to such strategy. The gap model provides a tool to identify critical points of successful CRM operations and suggests actions to deal with them.

Customers' reactions to CRM strategies and actions have not been given appropriate attention, nor have they been linked to internal company's operations. Similarly, although the gap analysis approach was proved to be very useful in other settings, such as measuring service quality, no application of it to CRM has been suggested. The paper offers new insights in both of these fields.

I DON'T KNOW whether you are yet straight in your minds about the present location of the various parts of my erstwhile, present and embryonic business empires, but it will certainly clear my mind of confusion if I try to set it down here once and for all—and you are welcome to photocopy it (without comeback) for the edification of your colleagues!

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians has been on the shelf for two years now, and the pride and excitement I felt when it first appeared, due to my small contributions to its content and completion, have not diminished. As a reference librarian, I use it constantly myself and with patrons to answer a wide spectrum of questions. As a cataloger, I turn to it for birth and death dates, help in establishing names and uniform titles, and for the date of composition for music (to be stored in field 045 of the MARC format). As a researcher, I delve into it time and time again for the opinions of respected scholars and for data in worklists and bibliographies.

Supplements the (A) case.

IN THE LIGHT of their subsequent close harmony, it is strange to recall that it was an impending royalty dispute between authors and publishers that provoked John Brophy's article, ‘A proposal to increase authors' incomes through the libraries’ in the summer 1951 issue of The author. His premise was simple: the book trade, supporting printers, binders, publishers, book‐sellers and librarians, was conspicuously failing to support more than a small minority of authors upon whom all the others depended.

The aluminium industry forges ahead with new multi‐million pound smelters, despite a sudden levelling‐off in demand. Leslie Kenton talks to the managers who have to find a rapid cure for their headache. Opening picture by John Benton‐Harris