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New product “time to market” in the information technology (IT) industry is increasingly critical to a company′s competitiveness. Early product release into the marketplace will ensure higher profit margins, quicker returns on investment and therefore greater opportunity for a company to retain its market leadership in that product area. ICL Manufacturing Division is in the process of implementing information systems which support concurrent engineering concepts and facilitate automated processing of information from design to manufacturing. These integrated systems are based on distributed relational database technologies and open system standards. Provides an overview of the facilities and topology of the implemented environments within the engineering planning areas.

The electronics contract manufacturing market is growing and becoming increasingly competitive with original equipment manufacturers (OEM) expanding their use of contract manufacturers (CMs) to balance workload, lower operation costs and avoid manufacturing capital expenditures. Modern CMs are now expected to be involved in every aspect of an OEM’s product from concept design to customer delivery. This places increased pressures on the CM in terms of service to its customer and it is critical that all aspects of an OEM’s service requirements are determined in order to win business. Provides an overview of a process which may be utilised to capture and manage a customer’s main requirements and expectations from the early phase of contract negotiations to project implementation.

The shift of the DP role as a traditional administrative function to an integral element of the company's strategy calls for top‐level computer people with all‐round business acumen. Executive searches (head‐hunting) proves more effective than word or mouth, advertising or agencies. British Telecom employed such a search, which is described, immediately after privatisation.

The complexity of customer relationships has been recognized in the relationship marketing literature. Yet, the understanding of how this complexity impacts on the formation and development of different relationship forms is limited. Focusing on the development of customer‐service provider relationships in a financial services context, this paper aims to critically examine the nature and formation of business‐to‐consumer service relationships.

Qualitative methods were employed, with in‐depth interviews undertaken with a sample of UK bank customers.

The complexity of customer relationships was documented by approaching relationships as multidimensional, dynamic and contextual. A relationship typology based on four key relationship components (trust, commitment, buyer‐seller bonds, and relationship benefits) is proposed. This typology suggests that for a relationship to exist it does not necessarily have to encompass an emotional dimension. Moreover, the paper demonstrates the importance of the fit between customers' relational expectations and their experiences with service providers in developing long‐term committed relationships.

The study was limited to the UK context. The extension of this study to other sectors or financial institutions operating in different regulatory and technological environments needs to be tested.

It is crucial that relationships are viewed as multidimensional, taking into account various relationship components. Since different relationship components influence relationships differently, organisations need to develop different relationship marketing strategies for each consumer segment according to consumers' relational expectations.

Building on preceding research, this paper broadens understanding of the complexity of customer‐firm relationships by presenting insight into the affective element of relationships and highlighting the role of the fit between customers' relational expectations and their experiences in relationship development.

The earliest human societies relied for their subsistence on the hunting of animals and the gathering of food. The small bands of people who lived together pursuing these activities appear to have been the prototype of all human organisation. Hunting and gathering was the predominant type of social organisation until perhaps 12,000 years ago. Tools and weapons were not made of metal till around 4,000 B.C., the plough was not in use until about a thousand years later, and iron tools and weapons were not used until around 1,000 B.C. (Lenski and Lenski, 1978). The history of the human race has been intextricably bound up with that of engineering when this is very broadly defined as the making of tools and other contrivances as aids and adjuncts to life. From the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages at one end of human experience to the Steam, Jet, Atomic and Computer Ages at the other, technical‐engineering achievements have defined and delimited whatever is possible for human beings. Thus throughout the long historical transition from a predominantly agricultural to a predominantly industrial society engineers, or rather anyone whose principal activity was making and tinkering with three‐ dimensional artefacts, played a crucial role.

Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.

It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields but who have a common interest in the means by which information may be collected and disseminated to the greatest advantage. Lists of its members have, therefore, a more than ordinary value since they present, in miniature, a cross‐section of institutions and individuals who share this special interest.

Uses experiences in Bulgaria to exemplify market entry and control strategies employed by franchisors in a business environment that is geographically and culturally remote from the West. Carries out interviews in 1996 with Bulgarian franchisors and franchisees to test a number of hypotheses relating to issues including the type of franchisor, system densities, market entry strategies and monitoring tactics. Identifies 17 environmental factors ‐ cultural, organisational, political and legal ‐ which represent possible areas of conflict between the franchisor and franchisee. Establishes that franchisors adapt to a remote business environment in a variety of ways in respect of both market entry and monitoring strategies ; establishes some significant correlations between different types of franchisors and their strategies. Finds that western franchisors and Bulgarian owned firms often place different emphasis on the relative importance of environmental factors. Observes a broad variation in market entry tactics. Recommends that franchisors need to establish criteria to establish risks in remote business environments and devise appropriate strategies prior to entry.

Futurist Jim Dator provides a personal insight of how he “sees” the past, present, and futures of Hawaiian tourism. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Ian Yeoman interviews one of the world's most prominent and respected futurists, Professor Jim Dator, from the Futures Research Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Political Science Department.

Like a climatologist, futurists discuss long‐term futures which are very uncertain, controversial, and often frightening stories. The past tells how the present occurred. Understanding that story is essential before considering the future. The growth of tourism is a fabulous story dependent on many developments whose future is uncertain. The tourism industry may want a “more of the same” trajectory of continued economic growth but a number changes are on the horizon which Dator calls “The Unholy Trinity,” namely the end of cheap and abundant energy; a profoundly unstable environment and a dysfunctional global economic system. Dator concludes that no government now governs satisfactorily, and so the future of tourism is extremely precarious and uncertain.

The interview provides both insight into how tourism has evolved and foresight of what could occur in the futures. Central to the interview is Dator's identification of the Unholy Trinity, Plus One, that suggests that the future will not neither be like the present nor like the future the tourism industry has hoped for in terms of continued economic growth. The originality and value of Dator's frank views are thought provoking, going beyond present wisdom and comfort.

The Jurassic Park film franchise offers a complex portrayal of gender issues within a long-running science fiction action series, although not one without problematic moments. This chapter examines selected examples from the series to explore this complex picture. These include moments in the series that display female characters such as Ellie Sattler, Sarah Harding and Claire Dearing with power and agency and the top of their respective professions, noting that Jurassic Park is unusual among science fiction films for its presentation of such accomplished female characters. The chapter also addresses the sexualisation of the character Ian Malcolm and the role of the more typical ‘action star’ from later films, Owen Grady. Finally, it considers the question of sex-selection for the non-human characters, namely the dinosaurs, as significant plot points advance upon the premise that the entire dinosaur population in the series consists of non-breeding females, a fact that is later shown to be untrue. The chapter addresses each of these examples through key issues relating to the production, presentation, and violation of the human and non-human living body across the full Jurassic Park series.