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Developing people in an international context is a difficult and expensive activity to manage. It is important that organizations analyse carefully the requirements they have, and formulate a strategy accordingly. Examines the factors to be taken into account, and the types of international development that can meet business needs. Describes the case of ICL with respect to its alliance with Nokia Data: the reasons to merge, the integration process in creating a “merged” culture and the implications for management development.

Begins by outlining ICL High Performance Technology’s background and position in the market, and describing the company’s products. States that the company is in transition owing to the constantly changing business environment. Describes how and why ICL has developed a strong focus on quality and outlines the processes adopted to achieve this goal. These include self‐assessment and mobilizing the organization through awareness programmes and various displays as well as entering the UK Quality Awards. Describes ways in which the benefits were measured and key learning points. Concludes by suggesting the way forward.

ICL, the information systems subsidiary of STC, defines quality as providing systems, products and services which fully meet customers' requirements, and it is through this single‐minded, customer‐led approach that ICL succeeds in fiercely competitive markets. To build on this success, in 1987 Joe Goasdoué was appointed to the ICL Board as director of quality to lead a long‐term quality improvement process. The programme includes company‐wide training and education and is designed to create a new quality culture in which every employee is dedicated above all else to customer satisfaction and service.

The evolutionary development of a global logistics strategy in ICL is based upon a mature organisation and systems capability within the UK. Directors of supply Richard Beardon describes some of the key elements of this approach and its relationship to corporate objectives and marketing strategies.

Leaders emerge from some very unlikely situations. They come in all ages, sizes, shapes, and from both genders. In this paper we discuss the relationship between the theoretic and practical applications evidenced by the Institute for Community Leadership’s (ICL) efforts to prepare people for civic leadership. We present background information about ICL including the Institute’s purposes and goals, an examination of its past achievements, current activities, and future projections, and we conclude with a discussion of “conditions for success in collaborative public ventures” (Hackman & Johnson, 2009, p. 293) as it relates to the Institute’s efforts to prepare people for community leadership.

Three consultants in ICL′s corporate HRD unit speak from their experience of self‐managed learning. They ask “Can self‐development provide people with sufficient confidence in their own future to engender a positive attitude to corporate change?” Three key points are illustrated with examples taken from their own experience in ICL: develop yourself to develop others; help others learn the values of self‐managed learning – don′t tell them; be flexible at all times, including the design of solutions. Concludes that self development has a lot to offer – real, relevant, individual development dovetailed into the business needs of the developing organization. There is still much to learn, but their experience in ICL is positive and encouraging. They believe it is right for these “empowering” times, and can indeed help people develop sufficient confidence in their own future to engender a positive attitude towards the inevitable and essential corporate change.

Describes how, to produce results similar to that of a small aggressive company, ICL has taken empowerment one step further by transforming some of its business units into subsidiary companies working under the ICL umbrella. Asserts that diversity is one of the keys to ICL′s continued profitability. Contends that empowerment has been instrumental in the creation of a more dynamic, efficient and results‐oriented organization. Focuses on an individual business unit, looking at the empowerment process from this perspective. Concludes that huge progress has been made and the company will maintain and develop its innovative and flexible culture.

Notes a broad agreement that small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) fulfil a critical role in modern economies, and therefore their ability to survive, remain competitive and produce high quality outputs is of utmost importance at both micro and macro levels. Focuses on total quality management (TQM), a new management paradigm, which is successfully competing with the well‐established paradigms such as scientific management. Argues that implementation of TQM principles can potentially help SMEs to enhance their robustness, as well as improve the quality of their final output. However, observes that, by comparison with the large organizations, SMEs have been slow in implementing TQM. Examines the differences between the characteristics of SMEs and large organizations; the relationship between the size of organization and inherent characteristics of TQM; and the effect of organization size on the implementation of TQM using deductive research. Using the case data, develops a ten‐step methodology for the implementation of TQM in SMEs.

Analyses ICL (formerly International Computers, Ltd), founded in 1968, which was taken over (90.1%) by Fujitsu, that operates in over 80 countries and employs 21,000 people — mostly in Europe. Believes that implementing knowledge management — as a key business process — can aid in organizational learning. Comments on Elizabeth Lank, programme director, knowledge management at ICL, whose mission (Holy Grail) is to focus management attention on identifying, managing and sharing knowledge ideas and expertise as a key asset throughout ICL. Further discusses the programme to implement a knowledge management programme in ICL, plus possible hurdles. Warns there are major traps on the way to grasping this particular Holy Grail.

Defines total quality management (TQM) as a business approach which focuses on the continuous improvement of an organization’s business processes, and business process re‐engineering (BPR) as a fundamental and radical restructuring of those processes, characterized by discontinuous improvement. Suggests that while BPR has been promoted aggressively as the approach to use if TQM fails, many of the most significant BPR successes have been in organizations with a successful history of TQM. Presents a case study of D2D Ltd which has evolved rapidly from being the captive manufacturing division of ICL plc, to become a successful contract manufacturing business, supplying some of the world’s leading computer giants. The cultural ideology of TQM has provided the environment necessary to sustain new and radical process redesigns. Business process re‐engineering has become an integral part of D2D’s culture, a process‐driven culture built on the ideals and concepts of total quality management.