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The notion, that people management can be a key source of sustained competitive advantage, calls for the integration of Human Resource Management (HRM) and business strategy. Not surprisingly, the main debate in HRM is nowadays concerned with the relationship between strategic management and employee relations in the firm and therefore strategic HRM focuses on the overall direction of the organisation in pursuit of its stated goals and objectives. This paper explores the above relationship in the electronic manufacturing industry. It is based on empirical evidence and the findings of a survey of senior managers’ perception and views on strategic HRM.It is concluded that increasing core competencies of the firm, in particular HR, is one of the key elements to the success of the firm performance and that HR involvement in the development and implementation of business strategy leads to organisational effectiveness in this industry.

The land resettlement programme in Zimbabwe was undertaken not just as a land redistribution exercise but as a carefully planned and managed development programme. Despite the problems of adjusting government institutions to independence, an organisational framework was successfully established to plan and implement resettlement. This owed much to the fact that implementing resettlement was consistent with each institution′s objectives. On the other hand, the early economic success of the programme has become increasingly jeopardised as the institutions′ requirement for programme operation has not been matched by that for planning and implementation. An understanding of the organisational objectives of individual institutions can go some way to explain this. The experience of resettlement in Zimbabwe may not be unique and the experience will add to the increased emphasis being given in agricultural development to the establishment of appropriate farmer‐oriented institutions at the local level.

Three categories of managerial skills are described as essential for effectiveness of senior managers: task, people and analytical and self‐development skills. Argues that managers at the lower level of the hierarchy value task‐related skills whereas self‐development and people‐ related skills are perceived as essential by the top management team. Suggests that although the above categories of managerial skills are somewhat broadly grouped in the literature there may exist distinct meaningful patterns of interrelationships among them which have several implications for the effective management training and development of senior managers.

Describes a number of experiments with electronic document delivery, and the copyright problems that are affecting its use. Considers the inadequacies of interlending for the user, the interlending in Eastern Europe and Australia. Outlines the impact of CD‐ROM on document supply and suggests that interlending can be a social, cultural and economic measure.

This study aims to reflect on ways that the experiences of vulnerable users of drug and alcohol services can inform social work practice and policy to improve treatment engagement and mitigate negative responses to interventions.

The research used semi-structured interviews and photovoice in an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experiences of people in treatment for drug or alcohol problems whose child was the subject of a Child Protection or Child in Need order.

The research gave insights into participants’ experiences of loss of control, unfairness and stigma. Participants described how they felt powerless in the social services system and were afraid to be open and honest with practitioners for fear of having their children removed.

The research highlighted the need for more training and professional development for social work practitioners to address power imbalance issues, and the need to promote non-threatening professional practice that removes penalties for disclosure of substance use, enabling substance users who are parents to be more honest about their drug use.

The research showed the value of phenomenological methods for investigating sensitive issues with vulnerable users of treatment services in a way that can inform policy and practice.

This paper explores ways that phenomenological research with vulnerable, hard-to-reach participants can produce insights about the potential benefits of social work practice that is non-threatening and encourages greater openness and honesty among substance users who are parents.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the methodological choices for a study of human resource management strategy implementation.

The methodology examines the matching and Harvard approaches to human resource management research which are prevalent in the field. This is achieved by a two‐stage methodology. First, a descriptive, quantitative survey methodology is employed to establish the extent to which strategic planning occurs in a rational way. Second, a qualitative, case study methodology examines the reasons behind the strategic choices made.

Limited evidence of formal planning, in line with the matching approach was found, particularly around the organisation's choice of human resource policies. Instead policies were determined by influences suggested in the Harvard approach, including stakeholders, organisation culture and power. The combined approach of quantitative and qualitative research offers a more balanced explanation than the previous independent research undertaken in the field.

Limitations to the research included the difficulty in accessing commercially sensitive data on strategy planning. The study was limited to only six industries, thus making generalisability difficult. Perceptual measures were used, increasing the risk of respondent bias. Further research to extend the range of industries studied, longitudinal research and the use of objective data would be of benefit.

The paper is of value to academics wishing to consider the relevance of methodologies for research into the strategic planning process.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how the voluntary living wage (LW) in the UK is set. It examines how this calculation relates to contemporary approaches to setting wage floors, both in relation to their goal of supporting adequate living standards and in relation to the place of wage floors in the labour mark.

The paper examines how compulsory and voluntary wage floors are being determined, in the UK and in particular the role of public consensus in contributing to the calculation and adoption of a LW. It then reflects on the future sustainability of a system of wage floors in which the concept of the LW plays a significant role.

The central finding is that widespread support for wages delivering socially acceptable minimum living standards has transformed the context in which low pay is being addressed in the UK. The LW idea has stimulated more decisive efforts to do so; however, if a compulsory version of a LW were to reach a level shown to be harming jobs, this could seriously undermine such efforts. Moreover, the extent to which adequate wages are compatible with high employment levels can also be influenced by state support for households, especially tax credits and Universal Credit.

The paper clarifies how the setting of the UK LW contributes to objectives related both to living standards and to labour markets, and critically addresses some key issues raised.

Over the past 30 years asylum has become an issue of great political significance, public interest and media coverage in most “Western” countries. Policies and laws designed to deal with asylum seekers have proliferated, as have the resources required to manage them. These developments have come as a result of the rise of asylum as a social, political and economic “problem” which is seen to necessitate urgent action. Within this context, some countries, such as Britain, have sought to limit asylum seekers’ social and economic rights. In Britain specifically this has involved making paid employment illegal for asylum seekers, and in the process making the government liable for the living costs of such individuals – creating a situation of forced welfare dependency. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper provides a review of research into work and welfare policy relating to asylum seekers in Britain. The paper focuses particularly on three key issues which are affected by asylum policies relating to work and welfare. These have all received particular scholarly attention in recent years: destitution, illegal working and forced labour, and the impact on integration outcomes.

In the final section the author proposes some directions for future research.

The review is, of course, not exhaustive, but does provide an overview of key themes in the literature and should be of interest to scholars interested in the politics, sociology and social policy of asylum.

The influences of perception have been studied in educational, army, sports and business settings but never in the development field. The Pygmalion effect generally suggests that the perceiver's positive expectation enhances the target's performance. This first time research seeks to explore how managerial perceptions of the aid workers of the local staffs affect their behaviour and performance in cross‐cultural project settings.

With the cooperation of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), 244 valid responses were obtained from the aid workers through a web‐based survey. Using factor analysis, five perception‐related factors and two behaviour‐related factors were extracted. Subsequently, in order to clarify the causal relationship, the above factors and one observed organisational performance variable were tested using path analysis.

Positive causal relationships were confirmed between two perception‐related factors and one behaviour‐related factor, and also between the behaviour‐related factor and the organisational performance variable. These results strongly suggest that aid workers' positive perception causes positive behaviour in local colleagues and will result in higher organisational performance.

Whilst avoiding generalisation, nevertheless, the results suggest that there is a need for people‐related and cross‐cultural management skills to ensure successful future activities, and stress management competencies to maintain the positive managerial perception on the part of the aid workers.

Despite the considerable influence of donor staff's managerial perception on the quality of the human relationships and organisational performance, this field of enquiry has remained neglected. The study provides first‐time empirical evidence on its significance.