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Spawton (1991) discusses consumer expectations and risk‐reduction strategies in the purchase of wines. Spawton (1991) refers to a four‐segment model of the market. These segments include Connoisseurs, Aspirational Drinkers, Beverage Wine Consumers and New Wine Drinkers. These segments were developed from the results of an exploratory qualitative study conducted by McKinna (1987). This study aims to empirically test and confirm the segments that the wine industry has taken for granted. There are four hypotheses relating to the confirmation of Spawton's (1991) segments.

A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).

This article describes a study which is being undertaken by the authors of the adoption processes used by UK retailers in the case of new wine and spirit products. Following a literature review they outline the work of earlier researchers in deducing the factors which retailers, in general, consider in deciding whether or not to stock a new product. The principal factors are found to be consumer demand, compatibility with existing merchandise, financial criteria and manufacturer's support for the product The article also highlights the increasing concentration of buyer power in the UK grocery market.

People After acting as a section head in BLR&DD since the summer of 1984 John Burchell has been officially promoted to this post. His particular responsibilities include dissemination, user education and professional education. Sue Howley, BLR&DD project officer responsible for information policy, has been promoted to the post of Head of Central Services, Science Reference and Information Service (formerly Science Reference Library). Dr Richard Snelling, the project officer responsible for social science information, has transferred to Western Manuscripts in the British Library's Special Collections directorate.

E‐Business channels are presenting novel opportunities for small vineyards to target new online market segments, to communicate directly with the customer and side‐step the main wine distributors who have traditionally blocked access to substantially wider markets. In the UK, where the majority of wine producers is heavily reliant on direct sales, understanding the role that eBusiness channels can play in the buyer behaviour process could be critical for building effective customer relationships and sales. This paper investigates how competitive advantage can be achieved through B2C channels.

A Lack of Evaluation: Do employers' training efforts operate in isolation from mainstream business activities? One would like to think that they don't, but there is plenty of evidence to prove that they do. Take, for instance, a survey by IRS on training evaluation in the UK. It found that only a quater of employers always set overall targets for their training; even fewer take as their strating‐point the training implications of the organization's business plan; just over a fifth begin by conducting a training needs analysis.

THE most important personal news of the month is the appointment of Mr. J. D. Cowley M.A., the County Librarian of Lancashire, as Director of the University of London School of Librarianship. This had been expected for some considerable time, but we were unable to comment until it had been confirmed in the middle of May by the Senate of the University. Mr. Cowley will bring to the office the culture which we know him to possess, experience in the library of a learned society, and the much wider public experience which he has gained in Lancashire. A quiet enthusiast, with a sympathetic and friendly manner, his achievements in librarianship have already been such as to make our hopes for his future most sanguine. We all like him, which is one of the best foundations for his success. The Library Association Record has expressed the general hope that he will be able to make such arrangements in the School that its students may be more acceptable than they have been hitherto in public libraries. One of the methods by which this can be accomplished is extremely simple in statement, although it may be somewhat difficult of realisation. The larger libraries should be induced to recruit their assistants in the ordinary manner, to retain them on the staff for two years with ample opportunities for gaining practical experience in more than merely mechanical operations, and should then send the best of them for two years to the School of Librarianship. During their absence the libraries would of course recruit other assistants to supply their place, who in turn, if satisfactory, should be sent to the School of Librarian‐ship, and those who have been at the School should return in their places. There would, of course, have to be two vacancies to start from, but in a large system that is a very small matter. In the way suggested the libraries would be acquiring staffs which were practically trained in the first place and would understand everything that was being taught at the School, and who, in addition, would have university training and the status which undoubtedly belongs to that. If it could only be made clear to the assistant librarians of the present day that university school pupils would not displace them, we think one of the objections to the School would have passed. At present, of course, the objection is deeper; it is the chief librarian who seems to avoid the school diplomate. On the other hand, there is the suggestion that anyone who has passed through the School is ipso facto a librarian and should have a high position; that, of course, is not so. Ultimately he may have, but school training is only preliminary to library experience, and more is required before a librarian can have a responsible post in a library of any consequence. We hope the point we have raised will have the consideration which we believe it deserves.

The British countryman is a well‐known figure; his rugged, obstinate nature, unyielding and tough; his part in the development of the nation, its history, not confined to the valley meadows and pastures and uplands, but nobly played in battles and campaigns of long ago. His “better half”—a term as true of yeoman stock as of any other—is less well known. She is as important a part of country life as her spouse; in some fields, her contribution has been even greater. He may grow the food, but she is the provider of meals, dishes, specialties, the innovating genius to whom most if not all British food products, mostly with regional names and now well‐placed in the advertising armentarium of massive food manufacturers, are due. A few of them are centuries old. Nor does she lack the business acumen of her man; hens, ducks, geese, their eggs, cut flowers, the produce of the kitchen garden, she may do a brisk trade in these at the gate or back door. The recent astronomical price of potatoes brought her a handsome bonus. If the basic needs of the French national dietary are due to the genius of the chef de cuisine, much of the British diet is due to that of the countrywoman.

There has been a sustained interest over the past couple of decades in developing sophisticated leak detection techniques (LDTs) that are economical and reliable. Majority of current commercial LDTs are acoustics based and they are not equally suitable to all pipe materials and sizes. There is also limited knowledge on the comparative merits of such acoustics-based leak detection techniques (ALDTs). The purpose of this paper is to review six commercial ALDTs based on four decisive criteria and subsequently develop guidance for the optimal selection of an ALDT.

Numerous publications and field demonstration reports are reviewed for evaluating the performance of various ALDTs in this study to inform their optimal selection using an integrated multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework. The findings are validated using interviews of water utility experts.

The study approach and the findings will have a broad impact on the water utility industry by identifying a suite of suitable ALDTs for a range of typical application scenarios. The evaluated ALDTs include listening devices, noise loggers, leak-noise correlators, free-swimming acoustic, tethered acoustic, and acoustic emissions. The evaluation criteria include cost, reliability, access requirements, and the ability to quantify leakage severity. The guidance presented in this paper will support efficient decision making in water utility management to minimize pipeline leakage.

This study attempts to address the problem of severe dearth of performance data for pipeline inspection techniques. Performance data reported in the published literature on various ALDTs are appropriately aggregated and compared using a MCDA, while the uncertainty in performance data is addressed using the Monte Carlo simulation approach.

The purpose of this study is two-fold: first, to identify the degree of adoption of patient centricity in the pharmaceutical industry and second, to understand how the industry operationalizes this strategy. It is an important shift in the industry because of its central focus on the patient.

A content analysis was used based on publicly available documentation that includes industry publications, company and brand websites and clinical trial publications to identify the frequency of words used to describe patient centricity.

The key finding of this study is that the leading pharmaceutical firms overwhelmingly use patient support/access programs as the primary method of implementing patient centric strategies.

Future research is needed to identify what impact these strategies have on patients; and whether or not these strategies have an impact on lowering drug prices and improved clinical outcomes for patients.

Future research is needed to identify what impact these strategies have on patients; and whether or not these strategies have an impact on lowering drug prices and improved clinical outcomes for patients. Limitations include the reliance on publicly available documentation.

Pharmaceutical firms need to be aware that their publically available profile suggests a one-dimensional approach to patient centricity and this may influence the way patients, physicians and policymakers view their attitudes toward patients. This study is the first to systematically examine the activities of leading pharmaceutical firms with respect to the adoption and implementation of patient-centric strategies in a comprehensive fashion.

This study is the first to systematically examine the activities of leading pharmaceutical firms with respect to the adoption and implementation of patient-centric strategies in a comprehensive fashion.