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Society's response to unemployment is influenced by its attitudes to those out of work. Typically, they are seen as outsiders, as deviants who need help to regain their normal status in society. An earlier article considered changing the individual as a strategy for ameliorating the effects of unemployment. This article examines two alternative‐strategies. The first is concerned with changing the organisation in ways that make it easier for the unemployed to adjust to work after they have managed to secure re‐employment, and the second is concerned with changing society in ways that will either increase the demand for labour or lead to the unemployed being accepted as full, if different, members of society.

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.

The relationship between job dissatisfaction and the decision to leave paid employment in favour of business ownership is explored. Particular attention is paid to the level of job satisfaction enjoyed by the sample studied prior to founding a new business ‐ the job satisfaction of male and female respondents; the specific causes of satisfaction or dissatisfaction; the satisfaction reported following business ownership. It is concluded that dissatisfaction with promotion and a number of issues associated with superior‐subordinate relations appear to be related to the move. Significantly, potential business founders may be people with entrepreneurial talent who, if they could be retained in an employee role, might make a valuable contribution to the success of their employing organisation. The human resource manager must identify such people and redefine their role in such a way that they will be more satisfied with the status of employee and make an effective contribution to organisational performance.

A common approach towards enhancing managerial effectiveness is to focus attention on improving the knowledge and skill of the manager, i.e. training. This approach assumes that the main barrier to effectiveness is some deficiency in the individual. It is possible, however, that the problem lies not with the manager, but with the structure within which he operates and/or the role he is expected to perform.

A contributor to the Financial Times recently observed that the rise of the package has temporarily outstripped the rise of the “ profession or calling ” of packaging. It was for this reason that the Institute of Packaging organised the very interesting exhibition held at Olympia during the third week of January. The packaging of foodstuffs was necessarily one of the most important sections of the Exhibition—for reasons which are not hard to grasp. Not only has the consumption of bottled beer outstripped draught sales from barrels, but a whole host of foods have moved and continue to move into the domain of packed merchandise. For the moment it will suffice to mention sugar, flour, confectionery, bread, butter, cheese, bacon, vegetables, fruit, and even (occasionally) meat and fish. It has been estimated that the grocery trade sells nearly 80 per cent of its goods in packages. For the consumer, the packaging of food promises quality, purity and freshness, and, within certain limits, full weight and measure. In self‐service retailing, of course, the package is all‐important. Not only does the appearance of the package and its label take the place of the salesman in the retail shop, but the wrapping must also be a barrier which will be a safeguard against excessive evaporation, without inducing mould growth, and against decomposition and stateness. Conditions of moisture, humidity, temperature and pressure may be critical for the preservation of foods in the best possible state. There are dangers arising not only from the effect of the packaging material on the food but also from the reverse influence of the food on the container.

Hessling defines training as “a sequence of experiences or opportunities designed to modify behaviour in order to attain a stated objective”. The operative word in this definition is “designed”. As Hamlyn points out, people can learn to modify their behaviour as a result of all kinds of experience, but when they are being trained they are being put through an experience or given an opportunity which has been deliberately designed to make them learn.

The unemployed are a heterogeneous group comprising the able and disabled, young and old, men and women, black and white, unskilled and highly skilled. It includes those who have only recently lost their jobs and those who have been out of work for many years, those who have lost their jobs for the first time and those who have a history of losing their jobs. It also includes young people who have never been employed since leaving full‐time education. These are just a few of the many dimensions along which this heterogeneity can be described. Activities which may help some segments of the unemployed population may be irrelevant to others. This article cannot hope to present an exhaustive treatment of all the possible ways forward. Given this caveat, however, a broad‐brush attempt will be made to examine some of the ways in which the unemployed can be helped, to identify the contribution the personnel manager can make to helping the unemployed, and to comment on the assumptions that underpin the various approaches discussed.

The theory of learned helplessness is presented as a framework for diagnosing problems and planning remedial action in organisations. The elements of a successful change strategy are discussed and attention is focused on interventions designed to disconfirm expectations of non‐contingency between response and outcome.

Presents the theory of learned helplessness as a framework for diagnosing problems and planning remedial action in organizations. Discusses the elements of a successful change strategy and focuses attention on interventions designed to disconfirm expectations of non‐contingency between response and outcome.

Explores the reasons why Britain has invested relatively little in management education and training compared with its major competitors. Reviews initiatives to improve the provision and take‐up of management education, and considers the role of business schools in this context. Identifies six issues that will determine whether or not their potential contribution to management development will be realized.