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The author is concerned to make the point that most of the excuses for the poor economic performance of the UK do not hold water. He argues a two‐fold thesis: that the failures are mainly failures of management; and that the cure lies in the hands of managers. Underlying this view is the very important principle that training, if it is to be effective, must take account of socio‐political factors and that managers and trainers have a legitimate interest in economic, social and political matters and that they cannot formulate meaningful objectives without it. At the present time a division of opinion is appearing within the training movement on where to apply the country's maximum training effort. The MSC, inits discussion document A New Training Initiative, argues for applying it at the lower end of the job spectrum: with apprentices, adult retrainees and school‐leavers. The alternative view, implied here, is that the maximum effort needs to be concentrated at the upper end of the spectrum.

Prior research on joint ventures using both legal and strategic perspectives provides several transaction cost‐based prescriptions for structuring joint ventures to minimize the threat of opportunistic behavior by venture partners. However, the effects of these prescriptions on the subsequent survival of the alliance are largely untested. Using survey data from senior managers responsible for alliance participation to explore these relationships, results show that many of the prescriptions that impact venture formation also impact survival, but in a somewhat different and more complex manner than previously thought. Managers desiring to influence the long‐term survival of a joint venture should focus on the factors that best fulfill their goals for the partnership. By clarifying these issues we seek to inform our understanding of how the transaction cost‐based prescriptions influence alliance survival, enhance managers’ ability to capture the gains from this potentially valuable strategic tool, and raise important considerations for future research.

It is often said of Britain that we are good at two things — having good ideas, and then in failing to use them! Although the idea of Quality Circles was not originally British (it is said to have been American and not Japanese), we have in this country made some interesting developments upon the original concept. But are we really using those developments? Probably not. After an initial surge of interest, mainly within those forward‐looking companies who are always interested in new ideas, the rate of growth now appears to be declining. A recent NEDO‐sponsored (free) meeting on the topic was attended by only half the numbers expected. A one day appreciation session promoted by a major Polytechnic was cancelled through lack of support. Perhaps we should examine both these aspects, that of development and of lack of interest and see if there are any links.

Research has shown that there are two prime causes for the ineffectiveness of so much training. One within the course itself, and the other in the post course area. Particularly at management and supervisory level a great many courses are theoretical and do not give skills or usable tools. Others are still less effective than they should be because although skill based, they rely for application of the techniques taught solely upon case study exercises. What is required is an initial introduction through case exercise and this to be followed by real application to live job issues.

“The times they are a changing!” The song tells us. Training is often called a “change agent”, but it is questionable whether training is, at the moment, in the vanguard or the guards van. As a consultant in organisation development, I am called upon for advice on many issues. Recently I was asked to comment upon a booklet produced by the training department of a major manufacturing concern. The title was: TRAINING FOR CHANGE. The work outlined the “philosophy of the training department” and it detailed some of the current activities and courses. In general these could be described as preparing people to be changed. The focus therefore was upon sessions detailing the need for change, working with people, Transactional Analysis and similar. As I read it, a conviction grew: “this is not what training is about, nor is it a reflection of what has been happening in training in the past three or four years.”

There is today a great deal of criticism of the present examination system; on the one hand there are the educational theoreticians, who believe that most curricula are too specialized, and on the other the students who say that many courses are irrelevant to their needs. Possibly the fundamental fault lies in the attitude of mind of both the student and the educator, more particularly the latter. At all levels the examination is regarded as the terminal point and all studies are directly related to the final examination. In the present environment such an attitude is bound to create a mounting tide of dissatisfaction — not only amongst the educators and the students, but also in the worlds of art, commerce and industry who are, after all, the main users of the products of the system.

The organisation provided financial and general consultancy services to The City and to industry. In size and coverage it was outside the ‘top ten’ and had a total staff of 115. It was clear to the Partners that they would have difficulty in achieving the targets for the year and a major reappraisal was necessary. A structured Organisation Audit approach was adopted with a Manager (Consultancy) chosen to act as Analyst.

Friction and wear cost us in the UK something like £500m per annum, maintenance of plant and buildings £3000m, corrosion oyer £300m, mishandling of material a further 825m. The cost of production delays due to breakdowns has not even been assessed. With figures of this magnitude even a one per cent saving would be significant. But experience of a training programme designed to meet the needs of shop floor trouble shooters has shown savings of a much greater magnitude.

THERE ARE MANY people — far too many people, in our opinion — who are ready to state, or maybe just to agree, that manufacturers in other countries have the edge on us, whether in design or technology or even on price. On top of that, those same people, as a rule, are quick to condemn British workers as lazy, slow and ready to strike at the drop of a hat. We do not subscribe to any of this.

So far, the overall performance track record for corporate mergers and acquisitions has not been very encouraging. Both the academic and trade literature report that on average the gains to stockholders of acquiring companies tend to be small or non‐ existent.