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Records management has been heavily influenced by practice in English-speaking countries but is often seen as a foreign import in non-Anglophone countries. This study aims to investigate how using English terminology or translating records management terminology into French in a Francophone environment impacts on the success of recordkeeping strategies.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Francophone archivists and records managers in Switzerland to assess their communication strategies and the language used to communicate recordkeeping objectives.

The research findings indicate that in a Francophone environment, archivists and records managers who use French terminology are more successful in promoting recordkeeping objectives than those who use English terminology. Given that research was limited to one Swiss canton, more research is needed to test these findings in other Francophone cantons, provinces and countries.

This study is important for the success of recordkeeping initiatives in non-Anglophone countries. It highlights the need to take into account the local information culture and use terminology with which people are most familiar.

Following an outline of the organizational context of terminology work in the Commission, this paper considers the various types of computer application used, ranging from mainframe terminology databases (Eurodicautom) through documentary databases and wordprocessing software to specialized PC applications, with particular attention to current developments. An attempt is made to explain the factors leading to the development of an in‐house terminology management tool for a networked PC environment and the features of the package developed are reviewed. Consideration is also given to the lessons which others might draw from the Commission's experience.

To determine if there is confusion in governance terminology amongst experienced management and project management practitioners.

Practitioner interviews and subsequent analysis.

Significant differences in governance terminology were found. The participants had nevertheless arrived at similar operating arrangements for their committees, even though they came from different segments of different industries and did not agree on the definition of governance. It was possible to develop a list of working parameters for operation of these committees from their responses. The labelling of committees associated with governance as steering or decision-making was found to be problematic and various causes/motivations for the differing definitions of governance having arisen were detected. These ranged from altruism, through dogmatic belief in particular frameworks, to enhancing career prospects/ego.

The sample came from organisations and industries in one state in one country. The need for review of governance terminology used in various project management practitioner reference documents and methodologies was identified.

Projects and business alike can potentially achieve improvements in efficiency and effectiveness through consistency of terminology and the clarity this brings to governance arrangements and committee operations.

Creation of a unifying feature within the project and management literature, shifting the understanding of governance and its boundaries and limitations. This will help progress governance from complexity to simplicity, from an art to an understandable practice, from a concept that has been hijacked for partisan and political gain to a lean social tool which can be put to use for the benefit of organisations, whether public, charitable or private.

The value is clarity – resulting in the avoidance of confusion and misunderstanding together with their consequent waste of time, resources and money.

As a result of the increasing complexity of technology, processes and products, as well as worldwide pressures for competitive quality, quality terminology keeps expanding and changing. Although an internationally accepted quality vocabulary exists, namely ISO 8402: 1994, we still encounter serious confusion and misunderstanding when communicating on quality related matters. This is evident not only at the international level, but in daily operations, as well. In order to improve communication in quality related matters, we propose the “system’s view” be used. In this article, the “system’s view” is explained, followed by a focus on the application of the underlying concept of a system to quality. Four examples are used: the ISO 9001 Quality System, the ISO 9004 Quality Management Guidelines, the ISO 10011 Quality Audit System, and the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. The ISO 8402 Vocabulary is streamlined using the “system’s view”. Finally, the benefits of this view for creating quality vocabulary are discussed.

The stock of new terms in management accounting emanating from expansion in computer applications, flexible manufacturing systems, and quality controls is expected to grow. Unless a proper standardization arrangement is created, co‐ordination problems in communication will reach insurmountable levels. In light of the “linguistic relativity and determinism hypothesis” (also known as the “Sapir‐Whorf hypothesis”), researchers concluded that different professional affiliations in accounting create different linguistic repertoires or codes for intergroup and intragroup communications. Structuralism and its “doctrine of linguistic relativity,” which asserts that there are no universals in language, convey the difficulty of communication between nations with different languages. These difficulties constrain the growth of an international management accounting discipline. Terminology standardization reduces these problems. Considers the theoretical and practical arguments for standardization, the mechanics of standardization, and suggests an answer to the obvious question of who should be responsible for terminological standards. Included are the results of a survey, conducted in the United States, of management accountants dealing with the difference between current and desired levels of terminology standardization.

Discusses the current confusion over the meaning of total quality management (TQM). Failure associated with TQM implementation is often due to the failure of managers to introduce it effectively. TQM is being demanded by customers, even in public sector and non‐profit‐making organizations; it is a global and universal philosophy of management and is here to stay. There is a need to develop more university and college courses on TQM and related areas. In Japan, the philosophy of TQM is well embedded in all aspects of business life and the public sector. The challenge for all of us is to make TQM work effectively in any sector, to ensure that organizations optimize its benefits, to develop it as a philosophy of modern management so it can address future challenges and to integrate it in our education systems.

The aim of this paper is to discuss a theoretical framework for increased integration of a company's communication policy, corporate language policy and corporate information portal with a view to facilitating communication management.

The paper draws on selected theoretical contributions on corporate language policy with special emphasis on theoretical considerations on the type of language policies developed and implemented in companies and organisations and on corporate communication with special emphasis on van Riel's common starting points. The empirical basis of the paper is a triangulation of questionnaire data, content analysis data and interview data.

The paper argues that corporate communication has not sufficiently included the operational part of a company's corporate communication. The paper makes the case for a theoretical integration framework based on van Riel's common starting points (CSPs), and argues that corporate communication also needs to include the corporate language policy and the corporate information portal, defined as a modern information directory offering communicators concrete communication data for use in concrete text production situations.

The paper proposes a CSP‐based theoretical integration framework and makes the case for a Holy Trinity in corporate communications based on the communication policy, the corporate language policy and the corporate information portal.

The purpose of this article is to provide a set of practical recommendations or strategies for reducing the potential apathy and/or perceived loss of meaning that may accompany the overuse of common or popular management terms.

The article summarizes possible unintended consequences (i.e. apathy and perceived loss of meaning) that could develop as a result of repetition or overuse that may be associated with the growing popularity of certain management terms as they emerge. Recommendations for minimizing these unintended consequences are provided.

Four recommendations for reducing/minimizing potential apathy or perceived loss of meaning that may be associated with overuse of popular management terms are outlined. Two contemporary management terms (innovation and quality) that have been characterized as overused are utilized for illustration purposes to highlight the application of select recommendations. These recommendations include: acknowledging the potential for apathy; providing a context for the overused term; the use of synonyms; and discussing personal perceptions associated with the term.

The article provides a relatively pragmatic perspective on the unintended consequences of apathy and perceived loss of meaning that may develop as management terms emerge, gain popularity, and potentially become overused. Practical recommendations/strategies for reducing/minimizing these unintended consequences are discussed.

This article aims to present a unique systematic and validated method for creating a linkage between past experiences and management of future occurrences in an organization.

The study is based on actual data accumulated in a series of projects performed in a major medical center. Qualitative and quantitative content analyses were performed on 158 debriefing documents that were generated during two years. The analyses yielded a dataset which was utilized for cluster analysis to construct an organizational hierarchical risk tree.

Three major project phases were found to be the most influential: planning, executing, and controlling. The major risk areas identified were found to be those related to the initial work plan, professional responsibility definition, quality control, and communication management.

The study focuses on the aspects of organizational learning and suggests a new interpretation method for debriefing documents and a utilization method to mitigate potential risks. The most important outcome of the synergy was a new ability enabling staff members to improve their qualifications on a continuous basis. However, further research is required to examine the medical center debriefing and risk management from a long‐term perspective.

The current study was conceived during a discussion on the subject of safety improvement, where the impact of human behavior on risk events occurrence was debated. Hence, the paper was dedicated to analyzing the effects of the expanding limits of the prognosis “to err is human”. The method enables organizations to develop a tailored risk mitigation plan based on its accumulated processes and projects lessons‐learned. Although the paper describes a process conducted in a medical center, the method and findings are applicable to many other organizations.

Examines the “glass ceiling”, a putative invisible barrier but one that women experience as a very real impediment when vying for mobility, from a cultural perspective. In the case of “ethnic”, “coloured” and aboriginal women, the barrier is more often than not more visible with “concrete‐like” qualities of opaqueness. Argues that traditional images, meanings, expectations, values, assumptions and beliefs embedded in organizations with predominantly male management cultures and psycho‐structures need to be audited and, subsequently, changed. Emphasizes the urgency for cultural change in organizational structures to prevent the further emasculation and marginalization of women and other disfranchised actors in favour of a cultural diversity that accommodates gender, ethnicity and other social differences in action imperative for innovation and globalization. Identifies strategies for obliterating glass and concrete ceilings and achieving gender‐ and ethnic‐based equity in career opportunities.