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Presents an analysis of a recent survey in The TQM Magazine entitled “Total Quality ‐ the formula for success”. States that companies which successfully practice TQM share the following characteristics: an emphasis on tangible results; an insistence on performance measurement; an integrated programme; and clear commitment from top management. Goes into greater detail in each of these four areas.

The purpose of this paper is to check the efficiency of isogeometric analysis (IGA) by comparing its results with classical finite element method (FEM), generalized finite element method (GFEM) and other enriched versions of FEM through numerical examples of free vibration problems.

Since its conception, IGA was widely applied in several problems. In this paper, IGA is applied for free vibration of elastic rods, beams and trusses. The results are compared with FEM, GFEM and the enriched methods, concerning frequency spectra and convergence rates.

The results show advantages of IGA over FEM and GFEM in the frequency error spectra, mostly in the higher frequencies.

Isogeometric analysis shows a feasible tool in structural analysis, with emphasis for problems that requires a high amount of vibration modes.

We revisit the model of socialism proposed in our Towards a New Socialism (1993) and attempt to answer various questions that have been raised regarding the connection between our view of socialism and our perspective on capitalism, the process of transition to socialism, the failings of the Soviet model, the relationship between socialism and communism, the role of direct democracy under socialism, and the use of labor-time calculation in a socialist economy. We argue that the contradictions of capitalist property relations, and of the accumulation process on a world scale, are set to present once again the necessity of the abolition of private property during the 21st century, and offer some thoughts on transitional forms that could implement this abolition. We defend the ideas of direct democracy and economic calculation in terms of labor time, and argue that these elements distinguish our proposals from the Soviet model. We trace the demise of the latter both to specifics of the Russian situation and to more general problems of Leninism, notably Lenin’s conception of the council state, and of socialism as a long period during which the productive forces are built up in preparation for an eventual communism.

Indigenous students that live in poverty experience contextual socio-economic factors with residual effects of lower educational outcomes than their non-Indigenous counterparts. Indigenous children that live in poverty often have fewer resources, are segregated, and continue to be marginalized in the classroom. The vicious cycle of low education levels for Indigenous peoples confines them to low paying employment or unemployment that results in ongoing poverty or being a statistic categorized as the working poor. The purpose of this research was to gain a better understanding of the strategies that teachers have animated in their classrooms, which they perceived to be successful in encouraging Indigenous students to attend school, remain in school, complete course credits, and persevere to graduate from high school. The intent was to discover the how-to strategies and advance working knowledge of pedagogical practices leading to improved educational experiences and achievement levels for Indigenous students. This chapter will present the observations and qualitative findings of the case studies conducted in New Zealand and Canada, wherein 14 teachers described what they did and what it looked like in their classrooms. A constructivist approach was utilized to make meaning and gain the interpretations from the participants. This was achieved by first viewing the interactions in the classrooms and, through the interview process, being able to garner a better understanding of what was witnessed from the point of view of the participants.

Public administration and organization management features numerous references to the development and maturation of individuals within organizations not only as a means of self‐fulfillment but also as a primary component of meeting the larger goals of the organization. Successful articulation of individual needs, theory, practice, and programmatic objectives requires the maturation of the organization as a “competent” entity capable of providing enhanced opportunities for the development of individual potential as well as stakeholder and client satisfaction. Organizations building competence seek to synthesize effective management theory and quality of service delivery within a procedural framework which interrelates unsublimated needs satisfaction, management practice and agency mission. An organizational competency model constructed through the use of critical theory offers greater employee and client satisfaction, more effective and efficient service delivery through improved agency self‐actualization and performance, and expanded community involvement through a redefined public interest.

It is now forty years since there appeared H. R. Plomer's first volume Dictionary of the booksellers and printers who were at work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1641 to 1667. This has been followed by additional Bibliographical Society publications covering similarly the years up to 1775. From the short sketches given in this series, indicating changes of imprint and type of work undertaken, scholars working with English books issued before the closing years of the eighteenth century have had great assistance in dating the undated and in determining the colour and calibre of any work before it is consulted.

ARNOLD BENNETT was a man of two worlds. In the terms of Max Beerbohm's cartoon “Old Self” was plump, wealthy, self‐assured, a landmark of the London scene, a familiar of press magnates, the owner of a yacht; “Young Self” was thin, ambitious, far‐sighted, industrious, secretly terribly anxious to justify himself to himself and decidedly provincial.

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the relationship between law and ethics in accounting. The primary arguments of the chapter are that law and ethics have between intertwined historically, that concepts of morality and ethics have permeated law and that laws are based on ethical and religious principles. As a result, it is important for accounting students and practicing accountants to understand the close relationship between law and ethics. The chapter defines the meaning of “legal” and “ethical,” and draws distinctions between these concepts. It also discusses historical relationships between law, morality and ethics in major religious traditions. The concepts of ethics expressed in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, and how these concepts influenced the development of law and ethics in Western philosophy are then discussed. In particular, the ethical principles of independence, integrity and objectivity as embodied in the Code of Conduct of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are recognizable in Aristotle’s premise, that moral virtue is situated at the mean between deficiency and excess and that ethics is oriented toward practical implementation of the good life through human rationality. The final section of the chapter discusses the application of law and ethics to accounting and in particular to the detection of management fraud.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of physical preparation for bushfire among Victorian residents in established high risk bushfire locations, and to assess whether these levels of preparation changed over time.

Data were analysed from a telephone survey among Victorian residents (n=614-629) living in high risk bushfire locations over a three-year period (2012-2014). The survey measured residents’ bushfire awareness, knowledge, planning, preparation and engagement with bushfire services. This paper focusses on the extent to which respondents undertook physical preparatory bushfire activities over the three-year period using: first, principal components analysis to generate a single preparation variable by identifying a smaller number of uncorrelated variables (or principal components) from a larger set of data, second, analysis of variance to assess differences in preparation scores between years, and third, Tukey’s honest significant difference test to confirm where the differences occurred between groups.

Results indicated only moderate levels of physical preparation for bushfires amongst respondents. The activities that respondents rated the lowest were: “having protective covers for windows” and “having firefighting equipment to protect the house”. A significant difference in total preparation scores over time was observed, F(2, 1,715)=6.159, p<0.005, with lower scores in 2012 compared with 2013 and 2014 scores.

This study found some marginal improvements in levels of physical bushfire preparation from 2012 to 2014. However, the results indicate only moderate levels of preparation overall, despite respondents living in established high risk locations.

This study provides evidence for the current levels of preparedness in high risk bushfire communities, and emphasises the need for future initiatives to focus on specific bushfire preparation activities but also to consider the broader range of interventions that are likely to contribute to desired safety outcomes.