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Public external examinations were woven into the fabric of the education system of New South Wales (NSW) during the first three decades of the 20th century. By the late 1920s examination results had become the fetish and goal of most teachers and pupils in the state. In the early 1930s a reaction to this state of affairs developed; examination reform became a lively issue of debate. Central to the debate was the issue of the examination which marked the close of general adolescent education: the Intermediate Certificate (IC) examination. The agitation for IC modification began in the 1930s and did not cease until the 1960s. It began in the dissatisfaction of the 1930s, developed through the 1940s when opinion crystallized, survived the stagnation in educational reform of the late 1940s and early 1950s, quickly revived during the professional and public discussion surrounding the hearing and deliberations of the Committee Appointed to Survey Secondary Education in New South Wales (Wyndham Committee) and finally ceased with its abolition in the mid 1960s.

Reports the results of a qualitative, cross‐sectional study involving a survey of 549 teachers′ perceptions of the Unit Curriculum system in 22 metropolitan state senior high schools in Perth, Western Australia, in the context of system‐wide change, within a centralized educational system. Surveyed perceptions of six general variables applied to the specific case of the Unit Curriculum system. These variables are: perceived cost benefit to the teacher; perceived practicality in the classroom; alleviation of fears and concerns; participation in school decisions on aspects affecting the classrooms; perceived support from senior staff; and feelings towards the previous system compared to the new system. Suggests these variables offer pointers to educational administrators on how best to tailor system‐wide changes so that teachers will be more receptive to the changes in the implementation stage.

IN AMERICA the book world is bemoaning the fact that us internal postal rates were hiked up yet again in July for the special ‘library rate’ and the ‘fourth‐class book rate’—the former to 10 cents for a 2‐lb package, and the latter to 28 cents for the same. They might be interested to know that the cost of sending a 2‐lb parcel of books by post internally in the UK is now the equivalent of $1.00.

The first of a series of lectures arranged by the Wine Trade Club for the present session was given on March 8th, at Vintners Hall, London, when Mr. R. H. Monier‐Williams, B.A., read a paper on “ Legal Matters in the Wine and Spirit Trade ”. Capt. F. H. T. Ree, R.N. (Rtd.), occupied the chair, and in opening the proceedings said that probably most of those present were aware of the fact that Mr. Monier‐Williams was the greatest authority on the problems which beset their trade and he had steered them very successfully through more troubles than he cared to remember. In the course of his address Mr. Monier‐Williams referred to the question of misdescription of an article, and more particularly in relation to wine labels. The Merchandise Marks Act provided that every person who applied any false trade description to goods should be guilty of an offence unless he proved that he acted without intent to defraud. The most usual way in which a trade description was falsely applied was on a label, but the delivery of an invoice containing a false trade description of goods was an “ application ” of that description, and a retailer who gave such an invoice was, prima facie, guilty of an offence under the Act. To establish the defence that he acted without intent to defraud, the defendant must satisfy the Court that he did not know that the trade description which he applied to the goods was false, because he was mistaken as to what the goods really were. For instance, a wine merchant bought, in all good faith, several dozen bottles of wine labelled “ sherry”. It was invoiced to his customers as “ sherry ”, to which it was found to bear no resemblance except possibly in colour. The wine merchant was entitled to be acquitted, but he must have acted in good faith. If the prosecution proved that the merchant knew or must have known perfectly well that the stuff was not sherry, or that he applied the description without caring whether it was true or false he should be convicted. In answering charges a defendant would establish a defence if he proved that he was mistaken as to what the goods were and did not know, therefore, that the trade description was false. Nevertheless, his defence would fail unless he could establish certain matters laid down in the Act, namely that, having taken all reasonable precautions against committing an offence, he had at the time no reason to suspect the genuineness of the trade description, and that, on demand made by or on behalf of the prosecution, he gave all the information in his power with respect to the persons from whom he obtained the goods.

The commentaries offered by Professors Joyce and Michael on our chapter, “Multilevel influences on firm performance: Implications from the resource-based view and strategic groups research,” provide a number of suggestions for incorporating levels of analysis into studies of firm performance. In this rejoinder to their comments, we note the need to include managers’ cognitions in studies, emphasize the role of theory in studying strategic groups, describe the value of creating conceptual clarity regarding strategic groups, and offer suggestions for studies that might emanate from the ideas in the commentaries in juxtaposition to our original work.

Since my original article published in this Journal in January 1980, entitled AN INTRODUCTION TO QUALITY CIRCLES, the name of the concept has become a buzz word, a fact and the latest craze amongst consultants throughout the world. That is not to suggest that the article in question was responsible for such developments. It would have happened some time or other anyway. The fact that Circles have taken off is both exciting and yet worrying. Properly implemented and in the right industrial culture, Quality Circles can help create in an organisation, a competitive drive totally outside the experience of any one outside Japan where Circles originated. Badly implemented or misunderstood, Quality Circles are almost inevitably destined for the file entitled “we tried it once and it didn't work”. Perhaps the most imposing feature is the staggering number of differing interpretations emanating from a number of self‐appointed specialists.