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Industrial machine vision gained a reputation in the 1980s for being expensive and unreliable. Martin Coulthard of Surface Inspection Ltd discusses how its reputation might be restored by creating effective solutions for the “right” applications, and illustrates this by describing the implementation of an automatic tile inspection system.

Following a deal with Machine Vision International of the USA Fairey Automation aims to put automated bodywork paint inspection into the auto industry.

The annual report of the Food Investigation Board which has just been issued contains much information relating to the cold storage of meat which is of interest. The Engineering Committee has offered some valuable suggestions on the means of improving refrigerating plant. Particular attention has been given to the condition known as “Black Spot,” which is caused by a fungus and develops in cold stores. This hardy fungus will grow at 5 deg. Cent. below freezing point. It is possible that even this temperature may not represent the lowest at which growth can take place. Spores—or seeds—of this fungus retain their vitality for six months under cold storage conditions, after which they are still able to develop normally at ordinary temperature. There was much “Black Spot” on meat coming from the Southern hemisphere during 1918–1919. It has been ascertained that this was due to the prolonged cold storage necessitated in 1917–1918 by the war. As conditions become more normal the duration of storage will be so short as to prevent the development of the pest. On the other hand, it is known now that fluctuations of temperature are dangerous, because the fungus flourishes best at 0deg. Cent., and also because fluctuations alter the humidity of the cold store and cause snow to fall. The flakes of the snow carry the fungus into the meat. The fungus is thought to come from the stock yards and slaughter‐houses. It is not, however, so far as is known, poisonous to human beings and produces no poison in the meat. Meat so affected need not, it is thought, be condemned as unfit for food unless putrefaction is also present. The fruit and vegetable committee is now investigating the storage of English apples. This is a complicated problem involving questions of humidity, temperature, time, soil, and packing. The results obtained so far suggest that a temperature of 1 deg. Cent., is better than higher temperatures. With a humidity of 85 per cent. saturation at 1 deg. Cent. or 3 deg. Cent. no shrinkage of the apples has been observed. Marked shrinkage occurred with a humidity of 60 per cent. saturation at 5 deg. Cent.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in the establishment of the Faculty of Military Studies (FMS) at the Royal Military College (RMC) at Duntroon between 1965 and 1968. And, in so doing, detail the academic culture and structure of the FMS at its inception in 1968.

Given the small body of literature on the subject, the chronology of events was developed primarily through archival research and interview transcripts, supplemented by correspondence and formal interviews with former academic staff of the FMS (UNSW HREAP A-12-44).

This paper reveals the motivations for, issues encountered, and means by which UNSW’s administration under Sir Philip Baxter were willing and able to work with the Army to establish the FMS. In so doing, it reveals the FMS as a “compromise institution” in which the role of UNSW and the academic staff was to deliver a professional education subordinate to the imperatives of the RMC’s socialization and military training regime.

Primary materials were restricted to archived documentation comprised of correspondence and meeting minutes as well as a limited group of witnesses – both willing and able – to provide insight into UNSW and RMC in the mid-1960s.

This paper presents an original account of the establishment of the FMS and the role of Sir Philip Baxter and the UNSW administration in pioneering the institutional forbearer of the Australian Defence Force Academy.

This study aims to analyze how various contingencies within the contingency theory influence the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) elements and performance of retail franchisees in a South Pacific Island nation.

This study employs a quantitative approach of data collection from 203 managers in a total of 89 retail franchise outlets. Convenience and snowball sampling techniques were used with data analysis through SPSS AMOS and covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM).

The results confirmed that technology, innovation and promotion; competitive edge and value co-creation; high return opportunity capitalization; and empowerment and support influenced franchisee performance, while responsive customer focused leadership and competitor knowledge proved to be insignificant. The findings supported EO's influence on both financial and non-financial indicators, with greater influence on financial indicators. The result revealed that EO accounts for partial impact on franchisee performance, while the remaining impact could be attributed to organization and environment contingencies.

The study proposes a novel context of EO in franchising, where we dissect key elements within the EO dimensions. It also adds to the extant literature on how the broader context of environmental and organizational factors termed as “strategic fit” affects entrepreneurial franchisee performance.

Attempts to nurture community self‐help in deprived neighbourhoods presently tend to pursue the “third sector” route of developing community‐based groups. Reporting data from recent UK government surveys of community involvement, however, this article uncovers how such a third sector approach promotes a form of community self‐help more reflective of the culture of engagement in affluent than deprived populations. If community self‐help is to be harnessed in ways that build on the existing culture of engagement in deprived neighbourhoods, then this article shows that the current third sector route will need to be complemented with a “fourth sector” approach that seeks to further develop informal forms of community self‐help (i.e., acts of one‐to‐one reciprocity(. The article concludes by outlining some possible policy initiatives that might be used to implement this fourth sector approach.

Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales.

How does social capital matter to the creation of neighbourhood networks in cities? Social housing in Portugal is some times viewed as a single architectural and building environment development failure. This article discusses a relevant Portuguese urban planning landscape and aims to contribute to the discussion of one of its main purpose – the social housing experiment. The author discusses the case of this landscape as urban policy-making and evaluates its implementation and relevance. She hypothesizes that “neighbourhood units” have become a relevant case in the context of neighbourhood planning and housing social-mix in Lisbon. Firstly, she uses theoretical arguments and findings to discuss an urban experiment - Alvalade Landscape. Secondly, the paper analyses relevant data that demonstrates its links to the housing policies thus enriching the urban design. The article offers evidence from the Alvalade Landscape case study in Lisbon of theoretical and empirical community ties in the 1940s. Thirdly, the paper identifies some elements such as community units, social mix, sidewalks, and that have an impact on neighbourhood design as well as people’s lives. The findings show that supportive neighbour ties provide important network resources (social capital) concerning daily life, illness, support or financial aid. Finally, the paper suggests the relevance that social neighbourhood community has in housing programs and policies.

To investigate the role of business process redesign (BPR) in creating citizen‐centred e‐government.

It is argued in this paper that the evolutionary‐based development of BPR is better positioned to expand the use e‐commerce technology in the public sector. The Venkatraman model of IT‐enabled change is used in order to investigate the extent to which BPR was instrumental in the movement to e‐government in Ireland. A case study is presented detailing how the Irish Government's e‐government strategy was devised and implemented.

This paper details how 50 government authorities were co‐ordinated in an effort to provide a single point of access (portal) to government e‐services. However, as the infrastructure for the portal is to be developed around existing government structures, a full and complete process redesign is unlikely, as the existing authorities must remain in place.

To investigate the unique nature of processes within the public sector so that IS platforms can be developed that accommodate less efficient processes rather than platforms that require unobtainable process redesign.

The establishment of a specific government entity, whose sole purpose is to oversee and implement the e‐government strategy, has contributed greatly to the success achieved to date.

This paper fulfils an identified need for research in BPR in the implementation of e‐government and provides a valuable insight into the successful attainment of citizen‐centred e‐government in other jurisdictions.