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It is widely accepted that firms should have manufacturing strategies consistent with their overall business strategies, but while much has been written about the content of these strategies, little has been said about how they should be developed and realized. Reports on research which set out to investigate the extent to which UK firms seek to influence the realization of their manufacturing strategies through their performance measurement systems. Over 800 small and medium‐sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in the UK were surveyed in late 1992. Analysis of the data suggests that while firms which compete on quality or time place most emphasis on performance measures which match their strategies, those which compete on price do not.

This paper describes a longitudinal picture of manufacturing strategy called a strategy chart. It begins with a summary of the research methodology used to develop and test the picture in live situations. Next, the chart and its role within an overall manufacturing strategy process are described. Case examples are then used to illustrate practical outcomes of a longitudinal viewpoint in two areas; first, to increase the awareness of a firm′s strategy making process and, second, to make strategies more explicit than previous methods. The method produces a rich picture that appears useful for reviewing the coherence between manufacturing and business strategy; showing strategy as concrete actions as well as objectives and plans; for providing insight into the firm′s realised strategy and its strategy process; and as a strategy communication tool which may make strategies more credible.

Describes the development and testing of a structured methodology for the design of performance measurement systems. Frameworks, such as the balanced scorecard and the performance prism, have been proposed, but until recently little attention has been devoted to the question of how these frameworks can be populated, i.e. how managers can decide specifically which measures to adopt. Following a wide ranging review of the performance measurement literature, a framework identifying the desirable characteristics of a performance measurement system design process is developed. This framework provided guidelines which were subsequently used to inform the development of a process‐based approach to performance measurement system design. The process was enhanced and refined during application in three action research projects, involving major UK automotive and aerospace companies. The revised process was then formally documented and tested through six further industrial applications. Finally the process was written up in the form of a workbook and made publicly available.

Describes the development and testing of a framework which can assist in the process of designing performance measures. Grounds the framework in the relevant literature and explains how it was developed and tested through a series of action research projects involving collaborators primarily from the aerospace and automotive industries. Notes that inadequately designed performance measures can result in dysfunctional behaviour often due to the method of calculation encouraging individuals to pursue inappropriate courses of action. The performance measure record sheet presented provides a structure which considers factors such as the purpose of the measure and the source of data. Notes the advantages of the record sheet, such as its use to audit existing measures of performance and to facilitate the process of designing new ones.

As a new framework for quality assurance in teacher education emerges, internal and external constituencies with an interest in teacher education quality are making burdensome demands on the sector. The constituencies include OFSTED, Government agencies concerned with accreditation and funding, the HE institutions, the teaching profession and student teachers. The result is a series of potentially conflicting pressures and a heavy cycle of inspection and report writing. There is a danger that tutors involved in the process will become sceptical about it, falling back on compliant responses in order to satisfy demands at a surface level. Examines quality assurance in teacher education, reports the way in which one group of teacher education tutors conceptualizes the idea of quality in practice and identifies those characteristics of a quality assurance system which should retain the confidence of staff.

This paper reports on the pilot phase of a participatory project to develop an online ‘AS portal’, which provided peer‐to‐peer support for higher education students with Asperger's syndrome. The process of development is described and the initial outcomes of the pilot evaluated, including qualitative feedback from participants. Participants actively engaged with the portal, by giving and receiving support through in‐depth discussion, much of which centred on the experience of having autism. The research indicates that there is value in further exploring peer support networks for individuals on the autism spectrum and highlights the importance of appropriate design and sufficient time‐scale for such initiatives. It also reflects on the implications of participatory methodologies for both researchers and participants.

This paper aims to examine the extent to which micro businesses in tourism might influence the process of tourism policy formation and change in urban settings.

A conceptual framework that considers the motivations to participate in the policy‐making process and the resources needed to influence policy change informs a case study of micro businesses in Saltaire, UK.

The paper argues that, although the propensity of local micro firms to influence the local political agenda will be affected by structural considerations that manifest themselves differently from place to place, it is possible to identify key conditions that will need to be present if such enterprises are to challenge the power of other local interests.

The paper begins to redress the imbalance in the literature that has neglected micro business participation in policy formation and change.

Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales.