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Greatest…. largest…. highest…. best…. are some of the words that spring to mind when thinking of this year's SMART tour to Nepcon West. We have become used to smooth running SMART events, and although a number of members contributed in no small measure to the success of the tour, special mention has to be made of the effort put in by Tony Gordon to ensure a successful trip.

Every electronics manufacturing company wants to know how effective its process is compared with industry leaders; to date this has not been possible. From an initial concept by Bob Willis, Chairman of the SMART Group, a data collection package has been jointly developed in conjunction with the Surface Mount Club.

The purpose of this paper is to present the case for engineering departments to undertake rapid curriculum renewal (RCR) towards engineering education for sustainable development (EESD), to minimise the department's risk exposure to rapidly shifting industry requirements, government regulations and program accreditation. This paper then outlines a number of elements of RCR.

This paper begins by proposing that Higher Education Institutions face a “time lag dilemma,” whereby the usual or “standard” curriculum renewal approach to embed new knowledge and skills within the curriculum may take too long, lagging behind industry, regulatory, and accreditation shifts. This paper then outlines a proposed RCR approach. This paper presents a number of preliminary “elements of RCR” formulated from a literature review of numerous existing but largely ad hoc examples of curriculum renewal within engineering and other discipline areas, together with the authors' experience in trialling the elements.

This paper concludes that a strategically implemented process of curriculum renewal to EESD can help a department address its risk exposure to likely and impending shifts in industry, regulations and accreditation. A number of examples of implementing “elements of RCR” are emerging and this literature can inform a strategic approach to curriculum renewal.

The aim of this paper is to highlight the potential risks and opportunities for engineering departments as they consider “how far” and “how fast” to proceed with curriculum renewal for EESD, along with providing an overview of a range of options for implementation.

This paper fulfils an identified information/resources need.

British automatic optical inspection (AOI) equipment manufacturer, Lloyd Doyle, has made several key appointments in its continued growth as a supplier of PCB inspection equipment.

Since its advent in 1983, Circuit Technology has gone from strength to strength, as indicated by visitor attendance which increased from 3000 in 1983 to over 6000 in 1984. Predictions are that, with the larger venue at Olympia's National Hall, previous attendance figures will be exceeded many times at Circuit Technology '85.

There is a great deal of interest in ecosystem or natural capital accounting and in methods to estimate monetary valuations of ecosystems. This paper aims to explore methods that may assist agricultural (livestock grazing) enterprises to estimate the monetary value of the productive capacity of the ecosystems they use. Such estimations are expected to provide a more complete set of information about the performance of pastoral operations and may assist them to assure ecological and economic sustainability.

This paper applies five different methods for valuation of the productive ecosystems used in extensive agricultural (grazing) systems. The methods apply different approaches to valuation described in the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) and Australian Accounting Standards (AASs). To do this, the paper uses financial information drawn from the long-term performance of an economically and environmentally sustainable pastoral enterprise.

SEEA- and AAS-compliant methods to measure the value in use of provisioning ecosystems are practical and useful. The estimations contribute to a reasonable range of fair values required by AASs and improve the availability of information that would be useful in improving the performance of the operation and compare it to reasonable alternate management strategies.

The SEEA is an international standard and AASs are closely aligned to the International Accounting Standards, so the methods described in this paper are likely to be generalisable to enterprises grazing low-rainfall rangelands in other countries. However, their ability to appropriately accommodate the extensive modifications to ecosystems caused by cultivation and fertilisation needs to be tested before they are applied to grazing operations in high-rainfall areas or other forms of agriculture such as cropping or horticulture.

The availability of standards-compliant methods for ecosystem valuation means that companies who wish to include ecosystems on a voluntary and informal basis as sub-classes of land in their general purpose financial reports may be able to do so. If these methods are SEEA-compliant, they could be combined with information about the ecosystem type, extent and condition to produce a set of national ecosystem accounts so that the contribution of ecosystems to the economy can be estimated.

Many of the enterprises that rely on extensive agricultural ecosystems are unable to generate sufficient financial returns to cover their obligations to owners and creditors. The ability to determine the monetary value of the annual inputs provided by the ecosystems may assist landowners and citizens to detect and avoid depletion of their economic and ecological resources.

This paper applies an explicit interpretation of AAS and draws from valuation methods recommended in the SEEA to demonstrate that current accounting standards (national and corporate) provide a strong foundation for the valuation of the ecosystems used as economically significant factors of production.

Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between cultural intelligence (CQ) and specific self‐efficacy (SSE), and the effect of training on CQ and SSE.

Pre and post‐test surveys were administered to 110 US government contracting trainees, in four separate training settings, to measure the effects of training on mean CQ and SSE scores. Two administrations included pre and post‐test surveys. One was designed as a post‐test only, while the fourth was taken from 25 contracting officers in a recurring training setting. Statistical analyses were performed through the use of t‐tests to measure the significance of the change in means across training classes.

It was found that training using a lecture format significantly improved mean levels of CQ on the cognitive and behavioral dimensions, while less significantly improving motivational CQ. SSE scores from pre‐ to post‐training were also only marginally improved. An additional finding showed significant positive correlations between CQ and SSE, but only in post‐ training samples.

These findings indicate that managers can use cultural training as an effective tool to increase the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of their employees' CQ, helping employees to be more effective in overseas assignments. In addition, improving employees' SSE on a task to be performed in a cross‐cultural situation may help to improve levels of CQ, and thus cross‐cultural performance.

The paper demonstrates the link between SSE and CQ, and shows that CQ and SSE can be improved through training. The relationship among these variables had not been empirically tested in past research, especially involving samples of public sector employees.

The obligation to seek best execution on behalf of clients is not a new issue for investment advisers but one which has received increased scrutiny by the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). This article discusses an adviser's duty to seek best execution and offers suggested guidelines from regulators and industry advocates when developing and implementing best execution policies and procedures. It also illustrates different trading analyses and sample controls that advisers may wish to consider when establishing a best execution monitoring program.

Employee evaluation and monitoring have been common in America since colonial times. With industrialization, employers have implemented increasingly creative ways to monitor employees. For example, in the early part of this century, Ford Motor Company employed investigators to enter employees' homes to verify that employees were not overly drinking and that their homes were clean