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The authors have drawn on their experience of professional supervision, coaching and mentoring in a variety of circumstances to examine the theory and practice of supervision in the context of the fast‐growing field of executive coaching. They suggest some fundamental principles that underpin effective supervision, explore the various domains of supervisory conversations, consider aspects of the supervisor’s personal style and present a range of possible structures for providing supervision one‐to‐one and in groups. Some tried and tested practical “tips” for getting the most out of supervision are included together with contrasting personal reflections on the supervisory relationships shared by the authors over a three‐year period. The authors conclude that regular supervision of professional coaches and mentors is an ethical and practical (though often neglected) imperative. Suggestions for further research in this area are directed at the need to pay attention to client outcomes as a test for effective supervision.

This Case Study considers the potential for more effective social services and health collaboration at the primary care level in the future, concluding that a process of continuous exploration is necessary and inevitable.

Contamination of red meat with foodborne pathogens is associated with symptom‐less carriage of the organisms in the live animal. In the United Kingdom, meat is an acknowledged source of human food poisoning from Salmonella and Clostridium perfringens, and other pathogens that are sometimes present may also be important in this respect. Within the EU, much attention has been given to improving the design and structure of abattoirs, although, in themselves, such changes do not ensure low levels of microbial contamination. However, it has been suggested that, with due care in slaughtering and meat handling, microbial counts from carcasses can be reduced from around 10³‐10⁴ to 10²‐10³/cm² and that contamination with any foodborne pathogens can also be reduced. Discusses those stages in meat handling which have the greatest effect on carcass contamination and the importance of using a system of quality assurance that incorporates the hazard analysis critical control point concept (HACCP). As an adjunct to good abattoir hygiene, possible processes for decontamination of finished carcasses, especially with hot water or lactic acid, are considered.

The intentions of this article are to contribute reflections of an empirical account of working with critical reflection within an organisational development programme, addressing the following questions: What space is there for critical reflection in organisational development? What issues are raised for in‐company developers and providers by advocating critical reflection in organisation practice?

A case study approach is taken, presenting an empirical account of a management and organisational development programme that integrated action learning and critical reflection.

The account illustrates difficulties of employing critical reflection within the workplace arising from the more complex power relations between the multiple stakeholders in a commercial context. In particular, dissonance provoked by critical reflection confronts the client with a tension over whether to see organisation members primarily as customers to please or as participants in a change process which inevitably will disrupt.

In making sense of the perspectives of different stakeholders a model is presented to help practitioners in development of this kind to anticipate potential issues.

The paper presents a rare account of employing critical reflection in a work organisation development programme.

ASIS Annual Meeting. The 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science was held from 2–6 October 1983, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, in Crystal City, Virginia, just the other side of the Potomac River from Washington, DC.

AS A RESULT of present economic problems in Britain and attendant cuts in spending, there is a need to achieve maximum cost‐effectiveness in all sectors of public spending including libraries. This article examines a simple method by which economies could be made in buying multiple copies of books. It is assumed that unless librarians have freedom to buy a single copy of any book they choose, they will not achieve the breadth and depth required of first‐class libraries, be they in the public sector or in academic institutions. Perhaps second copies need cause little concern, but a pilot survey of a polytechnic library revealed cases where as many as four, six or even eight copies of the same edition had been bought on one occasion before the effectiveness of a lesser purchase could have been evaluated.

Report on the professional online database industry. CSP International have produced a report called, The Professional Online Database Industry which traces the industry's evolution and trends. “As society has become increasingly information‐oriented, businesses have been forced to rely on online databases for fast electronic retrieval of information,” notes Michael Tyler, President of CSP International. “The growth of the online database industry has been one of the most dramatic economic success stories of recent years, especially in light of the 1980–82 recession.

The authors consider a group of commercial vendors who may be potential agents or players in electronic document supply. The group examines five potential providers of products/services: Dow Jones, Geac, OCLC, Faxon, RLG using Malone's 1989 comments on electronic markets as a framework, and using Porter's analytics to describe competition, and the role of technology in conferring advantage. The authors suggest that electronic document supply has produced an observable shift in exchange relationships between suppliers and buyers: the former are regrouping into partnerships which offer a confusing range of options to clients.

Economic growth, without distributional measures and policies, engenders inequality and concentration. National income may be distributed either through the establishment of a proper welfare system, or by the encouragement of and incentive for economic activities and policies with built‐in distributional factors. The prerequisites for sustainable income distribution are fair distribution of assets, investments and power. The main outcome of the growth‐based developing theories and activities are concentration of production, people and financial and political power. These concentrations are the sources of many problems of both developing and industrialised countries. Although there have been countless studies about development, few have made an attempt to investigate the social and economic interactions of small business with sustainable development. Small business’ contributions to the process of development, in terms of distribution of economic and non‐economic resources, are substantial. This article will explore the economic and political distributional power of small business and their roles in the process of socio‐economic development.