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Despite all the talk and activity of the past ten years or so, training and development continues to be regarded by many managers as a fringe benefit—a very fringe benefit! It is still rarely viewed by them as a problem solving tool which can speed the removal of whole groups of problems, prevent the occurrence of potential problems and allow opportunities to be seized and exploited. There are two schools of thought about how this situation might be tackled: the first assumes that nothing of importance can be achieved until the training officer has attained a certain status level within his organisation (. . and some have greatness thrust upon them) while the other school argues that the training officer can influence events to the extent that he is perceived as having knowledge and expertise which are both relevant and appropriate to the situation. It is this latter viewpoint which seems to offer most hope and which forms the raison d'etre for this article.

SINCE this is the last time I shall write this page as editor of Work Study I crave your forbearance if it tends to have a more personal note than usual. Of necessity communication through the printed word lacks the intimacy of personal contact. After fifteen years of writing for the same readership I sometimes feel the intense curiosity Bernard Shaw revealed in a letter to a schoolgirl which I was privileged to read. ‘I confess’ he wrote, ‘that I should even like to know what sort of looking animal you are.’

There is an increasing realisation that managerial and professional staff play a crucial role in determining the success of the organisations which employ them, whether in the private or the public sector. Hence there is a growing concern with the quality and development of such staff. A detailed study of these important occupational groups, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC reference F/00/23/00 98) was recently conducted by the authors. Although focused on Britain, the research is linked with parallel studies being undertaken in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and several other European countries. The broader international study will be published within the next year as Roomkin, M. (Ed.), The Changing Character of Managerial Employment: A Comparative View Oxford, University Press, New York and Oxford. The demographic and educational trends which relate to managerial and professional employees, their careers and other aspects of the management of such human resources are discussed. The remuneration of managerial and professional staff, their unionisation and their role in the wider society are then considered.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of total reward practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the South-Eastern European (SEE) region and the reward elements positively affecting organisational performance.

The sample consists of 199 SMEs operating in SEE countries which are either under economic crisis or transition: Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

SMEs in the SEE region are implementing a total rewards model which is characterised by a weaker application of individual aspects and by a stronger application of transactional, relational and communal aspects. Within the communal aspects of the model, the study found three elements of the work environment that positively affect organisational performance; work-life balance, employee involvement voice mechanisms, and organisational culture supporting personal and professional development.

The study contributes to HR practice; the authors found that a better work environment is positively related to improved organisational performance in these SMEs. This means that in times of economic crisis or transition when HR budgets are limited such non-financial strategies can be a viable alternative to costly financial rewards to such organisations.

The study contributes to both theory and HR practice by shedding light on how employee rewards are affected in economies under crisis and transition, how SMEs can motivate their employees when faced with significant financial limitations, as well as explores which reward elements can lead to enhanced organisational performance in such organisations.

The appearance of job security demands at the bargaining table is on the rise in the United States. Job security has increased relative to income security in the hierarchy of employee concerns. Management has, in several instances, responded to these concerns. This piece will outline the many reasons behind, and offer examples of, the increased emphasis on job security provisions. It will also detail some of the current roadblocks in this area.

A company whose business has always been the steel industry diversifies by acquiring a printing company. Should the benefits package of the parent, a member of the mature and highly‐unionized steel industry, be extended to the printing industry where benefits are not traditionally as generous? A textile firm whose traditional business has been stable for years finds that its fabric processing division is growing very rapidly and holds a strong position in an expanded market created by the use of new synthetic fibers. Are the firm's traditional criteria for selecting, promoting, and compensating executives appropriate to the management of this growing sector? The management of a company that has grown rapidly for ten years decides that the firm has attained an optimum size and that future growth should be limited and highly selective. Do the personnel policies in recruitment, training, compensation, and management succession still fit a company that will now experience slower growth?

Much has been written about the difficulty that baby boomers will face when they begin to retire. Concerns have been raised about the long‐term problems facing the Social Security system, problems with employer provided pension plans, volatile financial markets and unfavorable demographics. The purpose of this paper is to examine one tool that baby boomers can use to make their retirements more successful — phased retirement. Moreover, this paper will attempt to demonstrate that it is in the best interest of not only employees but also employers and government at all levels to promote the growth of this concept.

The issuance of sweat equity shares has recently created controversies. The limitations backing the conservatism of sweat equity shares issuance can be ascribed to confabulating recipient recognition process, uneasy tax treatment and procedural inconsistencies. This paper aims to study the theoretical and legal underpinnings, rightful recipients and the procedure for issuing sweat equity shares.

The authors choose the jurisdictions of India, the USA and Japan to study the problems plaguing issuance of sweat equity shares. The USA's prototypical reference and burgeoning technical soundness coupled with the sound venture capitalism of India and Japan has inspired the choice. The regulatory regime subsisting in the above jurisdictions governing sweat equity is studied comprehensively and comparatively. The structuring of sweat equity transactions and the tax treatment of sweat equity shares in the USA, India and Japan are discussed.

It is found that due to the absence of set standards and precedents the method for identifying the right recipients has trembled abysmally.

The paper focuses on the issues surrounding the practice of employees contributing to an organization being remunerated through shares.

This paper investigates the linking between employees' working life (EWL) and job performance of ethnic minority Bangladeshi restaurants in Greater London.

The authors use in depth face-to-face interviews of 40 participants working in 20 Bangladeshi restaurants (BRs) following a convenience sampling method. A thematic analysis technique, with the help of QSR N10, developed two key themes related to EWL and performance.

These themes highlight several aspects of the relationship between EWL and performance. First, EWL is “beyond” the UK tradition; employers show a domineering attitude; however, employees continue to work due to lack of skills and competence. Second, employees perceive and present themselves as satisfied; however, this satisfaction is not reflected in the business performance of BRs. Third, the analysis shows that business owners “trap strategy” constrains employees to develop their skills for mobility to other industries. Hence, employees express satisfaction with their existing situation on the basis that it is the best they can hope for, given their specific skills and competence, and need for some security in the UK. Fourth, non-financial performance, for example, job autonomy, sense of fulfilment is related to EWL.

The paper provides a framework to promote a better understanding of the linking between employees' working life and performance of UK ethnic minority restaurants. Also, the paper makes recommendations for further research, including an examination of the applicability of the findings to SMEs operated by other ethnic groups in the UK.

This paper adds to the scarce literature on the working life of people in Bangladeshi restaurant businesses in the UK and the relationship between EWL and business performance.

This paper surveys the social security system in several Latin American countries. Specifically, the cases of Bolivia and Brazil are documented in order to determine if the Chilean model is a viable one in the Latin America and Caribbean region. An institutional approach suggests that while there has been a marked interest in tailoring pension funds a la Chile, policy makers of the region must be aware of the similarities and differences in the politico‐social‐economic environment. The macroeconomic transformation undertaken in Chile was a unique one obeying to specific conditions of time and process. It is indicated, however, that even in the case of developed nations, some features of the Chilean model may be very appealing as well.