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Unethical behavior hurts everyone, including the offending person or organization. Unfortunately, the effects of unethical behavior are often long delayed, so the consequences are thus often attributed to the wrong cause. When librarians purchase automated systems, unethical practices—whether committed by consultants, vendors, or librarians—will cause significant harm to the libraries because they can not only acquire inadequate systems, but encounter many managerial and operational problems as well. In this symposium, five major consultants—Rob McGee, Howard Harris, Jose‐Marie Griffiths, Susan Baerg Epstein, and James Rush—share their experiences and thoughts on related issues.

The aim of this paper is to review two accounts of the history of workplace learning and training in the USA that emphasize issues of power and control in the determination of what training occurs, and place these issues at the center of their analyses.

The two texts are reviewed and a constructivist paradigm is considered to address issues raised in the texts.

It is suggested that a constructivist view by managers and workers can foster a positive approach to determining what training workers receive, allowing for worker training that meets the needs of managers as well as workers.

While these two works were the only ones identified through a literature search that focuses on the history of who determined worker training in the USA, and they prove insightful on this topic, this paper is limited in that these works are now respectively approximately one and three decades old.

Implementation of a constructivist view of determining training for workers can meet the needs of managers as well as workers, avoiding a zero‐sum game view.

By reviewing these two texts, and considering a constructivist paradigm in addressing issues raised by the authors, a vision of a constructivist approach to determining training is presented, with advantages to workers and managers.

Suggests that housewives shift brand preferences when confronted with actual price differentials in a market and, irrespective of income or educational levels, react to price cues on low‐priced grocery items. Discusses and compares various studies conducted across varying price differences and consumer stereotypes in the UK and the USA. Reports results of an experiment designed to extend empirical evidence about the relationships among brand preference, perceived quality and price cues. Sums up that this study once again confirms the basic importance of price to housewives.

The paper examines the perceptions of overseas' students of the service quality delivered by 10 educational institutions in Western Australia. Their expectations in relation to service quality are also measured using the SERVQUAL model. Groups of students with distinct expectations are identified and these groups are plotted on a perceptual space diagram together with the 10 institutions. This provides a useful tool for market segmentation and diagnostic work to improve service quality dimensions.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of podcasting and webcasting, and to examine student preferences between the different delivery richness of communication media.

Background information regarding podcasting and webcasting is discussed. A conceptual model, based on media richness theory, is developed to explain student's perceptions. For the testing of the model, a survey metric is introduced, and a research methodology is explained. Finally, a conclusion and research limitations are discussed.

The conceptual model of the motivations to use podcasting was adopted from media richness theory. It was proposed that six factors are related to future media use; immediacy of feedback, personal focus, transmission of cues, functionality, usability, and ease of use. The methodology relied heavily on logistic regression analysis for testing the various hypotheses. The authors collected data for hypothesis testing. The results of the study were inconclusive. This may be due to the lack of user experience with podcasting.

Some instructors have even adopted such techniques as their primary means (within the classroom or outside classroom) of communicating to students. However, the selection of appropriate communication media requires an understanding of the students' perceptions, preferences and receptiveness of these new technologies.

The findings from this exploratory research will be valuable for podcasting users.

This study is the first kind of empirical research in this area. With this study, the authors examined the perceived value of podcasting.

The financial planning industry has demonstrated significant growth in Australia through the 1980s. A benefit segmentation study of the financial planning market in Perth, Western Australia, is examined. A telephone survey was conducted on a random sample of 400 respondents drawn from the metropolitan telephone book. Four underlying benefit dimensions which are sought when making investment decisions are identified. Respondents are then segmented based on their pattern of responses over these dimensions. Three segments are identified – disinterested investors, demanding investors and security seekers. While the Perth marketplace could be segmented using investment benefits, attempts to profile these segments in terms of demographic characteristics and investment activity are inconclusive.

Social factors are an under‐researched but important aspect in the success of manufacturing cells. This paper sets out to investigate the impact and importance of various human factors within a socio‐technical system such as team‐based cellular manufacturing (TBCM).

A questionnaire survey was designed to provide information about human factors in TBCM. The survey was conducted at four medium‐to‐large size organisations in Australia and Switzerland where participants were required to be working within a TBCM environment and included managers, team leaders, and operators. A set of research questions and hypotheses was developed and tested.

It was found that human issues account for a significant proportion of problems within team‐based manufacturing cells. Of the eight human factors tested in this survey, communication, teamwork and training were ranked the most important, while reward/compensation was ranked the least important. Testing showed significant relationships between factors such as companies, positions, experience and team size; therefore most hypotheses were supported.

Traditionally, the research focus has been on the technical aspect of socio‐technical systems such as TBCM. This study offers practitioners and academics a better understanding of the human issues associated with this important form of manufacturing, therefore improving the likelihood of its success.

This paper demonstrates the need for research into the social side of TBCM, while providing an understanding of the important human factors associated with this system.

Investigates and evaluates land use data and valuation in Sydney′s central area. Proposes that, in order to make informed investment decisions, there should be an understanding of the nature and functioning of the physical environment in which funds are to be committed. Investigates what things belong in an urban area. Concludes with data related to how land is used. States that lowest land value and floor level classes tend to be allocated to goods handling and destinations for mass gatherings of people; highest land value and floor‐level are allocated to business categories.

Outlines the lead up to the establishment of the Network Development Office to ensure that the Library of Congress participated in national network planning. The work was vested in the Network Advisory Group set up in 1977 and later renamed the Network Advisory Committee. From this evolved a task force to be called the Network Technical Architecture Group (NTAG). The accomplishments of NTAG are described, and relate to computer links, protocol for such links, and national networks for sharing bibliographic and other data. Future considerations are also outlined.

Considers the relationship between various measurements of workplace performance. Examines data collected from 2,004 workplaces in the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. Identifies three groups, the first of which, just over half of the sample, was named the “successful internal group” because it had the lowest rate of return and the lowest industrial activity. The second group, approximately one‐third of the sample, had the highest rate of return and a similar level of industrial activity to that of the first group and was called the “successful both internal and external” group. The third group, approximately one‐sixth of the sample, had the highest level of industrial action, the second highest rate of return but the worst relationships between management and employees, and was designated the “successful external group”. The “successful internal” and the “successful internal and external” groups tended to occupy smaller, white‐collar workplaces and to employ a greater percentage of women.