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The goal of this research is to demonstrate how web‐based applications improve the effectiveness of a very important human resource (HR) function. It proposes a framework of a web‐based training needs assessment system for HR professionals to effectively assess employee needs for competency‐based training.

A conceptual framework of a survey‐based training needs assessment using the Internet was developed. A use case detailing a walkthrough of a prototype system developed under this proposed framework was created to illustrate how this system works. A two‐phased operation test of the prototype system was then conducted to assess how well human resource (HR) managers would accept and adopt this technology to develop organizational competencies. The first phase involved demonstrating the use case to a group of experienced HR managers and polling their opinion toward the system. The second phase involved one‐on‐one interviews with three select HR managers who were asked to experience the prototype system hands‐on.

HR managers from both phases of validation demonstrated positive acceptance of both the needs assessment model and the process improvement generated from the web‐based prototype system.

The qualitative validation test was conducted to a small sample of Taiwan's HR managers. Caution is advised when generalizing the positive results to other regions or countries with more advanced IT applications in HR practices.

This study contributes to the HR practice in several ways. First, it qualitatively confirms that HR professionals accept a competence‐based approach to build company's training curriculum. Second, it observes a lack of effective tools to help HR professionals in the task of training needs assessment. Third, it shows that HR professionals do recognize the power of web technology in helping them become more efficient.

Formal competency‐based training programs are rarely implemented in the real world because the process required is both tedious and time‐consuming. This paper adopts Internet technologies in a conceptual model for effective competency‐based training needs assessment, and presents an efficient web‐based tool to assist HR professionals in the needed analysis.

To achieve a full understanding of the role of marketing from plan to profit requires a knowledge of the basic building blocks. This textbook introduces the key concepts in the art or science of marketing to practising managers. Understanding your customers and consumers, the 4 Ps (Product, Place, Price and Promotion) provides the basic tools for effective marketing. Deploying your resources and informing your managerial decision making is dealt with in Unit VII introducing marketing intelligence, competition, budgeting and organisational issues. The logical conclusion of this effort is achieving sales and the particular techniques involved are explored in the final section.

Population‐based indices of needs have an influence on mental health care funding. Over the last 30 years, a number of needs indices have been developed that utilise sociodemographic and service utilisation data to calculate a proxy indicator of population‐based need. This approach is used because indicators of socio‐economic disadvantage expressed as weighted deprivation show a strong relationship with mental health morbidity. In this paper, we review the existing indices, illustrate the application of these indices using east London as an example, and consider the methodological and conceptual limitations of these indices. Although none of the current indices provide a definitive picture, commissioners and providers may find them to be a useful source of contextual information, which may be useful in combination. In England, this is particularly relevant in the light of the increased liberalisation of commissioning services and changes in the funding process.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of identifying market segments in multistage markets and assessing whether their alignment could provide a useful managerial approach to find competitive advantage and better understand market opportunities.

Using data from a pilot project, need-based market segments from different market stages were identified and their potential alignment evaluated. The data were not designed to test hypotheses, nor were they originally intended to be used to align segments. Nevertheless, they provided a unique opportunity to explore multistage segmentation and segment alignment in a business-to-business (B2B) setting.

Overall, the findings of this exploratory study should encourage both academics and practitioners to continue to explore the possibility of studying and aligning multistage market segments. The possibility of aligning segments was demonstrated using visual alignment based on managerial judgment of data and alignment based on a combined cluster analysis of customers across the multistage markets.

First, the market research was not specifically designed to formulate and test hypotheses about the feasibility of aligning segments in multistage markets – it is an exploratory study. The research was based on a pilot project, and the survey-derived databases were conveniently available for analysis. While sample sizes were small, they are typical of many B2B markets. Second, to more effectively study complex relationships in multistage markets, it would have been desirable to include a more comprehensive set of needs. Each market stage has not only a set of their own perceived needs but also a set of perceptions of the needs of other stages. Third, as in many B2B studies, the data used in this pilot project were based on single informants.

A common complaint among firms is that B2B market segmentation does not really work that well for them. An unexplored reason for this may be that true market segmentation does not stop with one’s direct customer, but should also include the customer’s customer and so on, in a multistage market segmentation structure. One implication of the research presented here suggests that better understanding the segmentation structure in a multistage market can enlighten the opportunities and risks of implementing such a strategy. Multistage market segmentation alignment may lead to innovative positioning and message levers for the sales force to use as an argument to gain advantage according to common and unique aligned segment needs.

The process may be applied to social institutions in addition to commercial organizations.

While it is obvious that market segmentation can be applied to any single market of customers, the question of applying it to complex multistage markets needs additional exploration. The original idea in this paper is that the potential for strategically aligning multistage markets and segments can have both conceptual and managerial implications for establishing competitive advantage and more efficient and effective resource allocation. The paper shows that that such alignment is possible; however, research and research methods in this area are nascent and will require continued step-by-step learning about these complex market structures to build up to a more definitive understanding of the processes involved to guide future research and managerial thinking.

Analyses both the impact of social change and the contribution that the library can make to personal and social development within a changing environment. Notes that the problem of increasingly centralised resources can be countered by the proactive decentralisation of delivery. Concludes that frugality of resources combined with increases in cultural quantity means that the librarian of the future will need to operate the service as a needs‐based access point to the global whole.

This paper aims to report a research methodology that is used to identify business buyer segments by relating demographic indicators to the needs of various market segments.

The research was based on a survey in the office systems industry. The respondents were asked to evaluate the importance of marketing services that are used by dealers to select, evaluate, and retain vendors.

Market segments were identified and categorized using demographic and need‐based data. Discriminant analysis was able to distinguish between demographic market segments and to identify these segments based on their market needs.

This paper demonstrates a methodology to identify customer needs based on demographic data, lowering the cost of identifying the product and service needs of different market segments.

Demographic and need‐based business segmentation methods are widely used, However, empirically based research that bridges the gap between these two segmentation processes has not been previously reported.

Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the main themes ‐ a discussion between Bill and Jack on tour in the islands ‐ forms the debate. Explores the concepts of control, necessary procedures, fraud and corruption, supporting systems, creativity and chaos, and building a corporate control facility.

Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the main themes ‐ a discussion between Bill and Jack on tour in the islands ‐ forms the debate. Explores the concepts of control, necessary procedures, fraud and corruption, supporting systems, creativity and chaos, and building a corporate control facility.

Although conducting a needs assessment has been accepted as the first step in solving performance problems, many human resource development (HRD) and training professionals find it still difficult to conduct an effective and efficient needs assessment. The primary reasons are the lack of a guiding model based on empirical evidence and the pressing need for a cost-effective approach. To resolve these issues, this paper aims to explore ways to conduct a needs assessment and propose an evidence-based needs assessment model.

Followed the guidelines provided by Richey and Klein (2007), a design and development research was conducted. From the in-depth interviews with participants, the author proposed a more rapid model of needs assessment.

The salient features of the rapid needs assessment model are utilizing hypothetical interventions at an earlier stage in the process and gaining a commitment from the client across the entire process. Due to the exploratory nature of the present study, the rapid needs assessment model calls for further investigation in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and validation through multiple-case studies.

Three significant features of the rapid needs assessment model are different from the existing needs assessment models: developing initial hypothetical interventions, engaging in an interactive and cyclical process and including the client in the whole process. The proposed model can also be used to guide HRD professionals which lays out the process and activities of needs assessment especially when the project due date is imminent, when performance problems should be addressed quickly or when the client requires results or at least the blueprint at an earlier phase.

The international literature on the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs has been wide‐ranging, focusing mainly on curriculum and assessment, and social inclusion. The issue of funding has been mainly confined to discussions about the size of budget needed to support the resource needs of inclusion (e.g. the costs of additional teachers, support assistants or transport). Less attention has been given to the actual structure of the budget for special education. There has been greater interest in the strategic management of budgets and in the interaction of funding mechanisms at the national, local and institutional levels. This article discusses the effect of resourcing mechanisms for special education and draws on a study across Europe, and other studies based in The Netherlands, the USA and the UK. The strategic behaviours generated by different approaches are considered and the degree to which any particular strategy can influence the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs is assessed.