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Academic interest in managing diversity is now developing from conceptual analyses to practical examples. However, the conceptual relationship between managing diversity and equal opportunities remains rather blurred. Perhaps investigation of managing diversity in practice may help bring greater focus to the relationship. This article seeks to bring further insight into the debate on managing diversity in terms of its link with equal opportunities and key dimensions in practice. On the basis of consideration of theoretical perspectives and dimensions of managing diversity, a practical development of managing diversity is discussed in a longitudinal case study of a proactive diversity initiative in BBC Scotland.

This paper presents a hybrid artificial intelligence (AI) system capable of integrating techniques of case‐based reasoning, rule induction and expert system, using them for knowledge acquisition and problem solving of selecting appropriate retaining wall systems at the project planning stage. The proposed hybrid system can eliminate the bottleneck of knowledge acquisition in developing a knowledge‐based system and improve the solution quality of the AI‐based system. Test results indicate that solutions generated by the proposed hybrid system are better than those generated by using a single technique.

Current technology offers many possibilities for remote communication. Nevertheless, people with cognitive and communicative disabilities have limited access to common communication technology like text messaging via a mobile phone. This study is part of the project Text messaging with picture symbols ‐ possibilities for persons with cognitive and communicative disabilities. Semi‐structured interviews were used to investigate the experience of using Windows mobiles with adapted functions for text messaging by three men and four women. The participants' opinions about the content and organisation of the project were also evaluated. All participants except one experienced increased possibilities for remote communication via text messaging. Increased participation was another relevant finding. Technical aids and interventions were individually tailored and the majority of the participants thought that Talking Mats for goal setting and repeated interviews during the project had been successful methods.

This paper seeks to show appreciation for the collective endeavour of work practices based on varying degrees of dependence, interdependence and mutuality between at least two people. Such dependencies have to be concerned with how talent is used and how this use is an interaction between people, a process called talenting. The aim of this paper is to provide a method to explore talenting.

The paper provides a brief overview of recent debates relating to talent management (TM). This paper argues that TM seldom pays attention to work practices where performance is frequently a collective endeavour. A mapping method is explained to identify work practices and obtain narrative data. This paper provides a case to explore talenting in West Yorkshire Police.

In total, 12 examples are found and 3 are presented showing the value of various forms of dependency to achieve outcomes.

TM needs to move beyond employment practices to work practices. There is a need to close the gap between traditional TM employment practices, usually individually focused, and work practices which are most likely to require a collective endeavour.

There needs be ongoing appreciation of talenting to add to TM activities.

This paper recognises a more inclusive approach to TM based on work performance.

This paper, to the best of the authors’s knowledge, is probably the first enquiry of its kind.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevance of human resource development (HRD) for law firms in the UK. It examines how the characteristics of legal professional practice in the UK, including the partnership structure, long established methods of targeting solicitors and the law society, may act as barriers to the implementation of HRD.

The paper uses an exploratory case study research approach to investigate characteristics and issues influencing the adoption of HRD in a Scottish legal firm. Primary data are collected via semi‐structured interviews with a cross‐section of representatives.

Despite recognition of the importance of learning, the characteristic elements of law firms, including the partnership structure; the pervasiveness of time‐billed targets in the solicitor community; and HR's profile and acceptance among the solicitor community, remain as barriers to the applicability of HRD. The research also exposes variability on the level and scope of development opportunities, an emphasis on technical skills development, and a lack of solicitors' self‐managed learning ability.

While the research findings provide a useful insight into the barriers to HRD in one legal firm, this does not allow for any generalisations being drawn from the study.

The paper explores the suitability of workplace learning to support legal professional development.

There is a dearth of research into HRD in legal practices in the UK. The paper contributes to the contextual influences that limit the applicability of HRD to legal professional practices.

This paper seeks to clarify the process that leads employees and prospective applicants to be attracted to remain with the organization or apply for a job offer in private companies in Zhejiang, China.

The paper applies concepts from marketing to people management, particularly the concept of brand equity. It proposes, on the basis of a literature review and preliminary interview data in three private companies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, that prospective applicants and employees evaluate job offers or organizational positions based both on organizational attractiveness (OA) and on employee‐based brand equity (EBBE) perceptions. It then presents a model of the relationship between OA and EBBE for future research in China, proposing the particular importance of the dimensions “economic value”, “development value” and “social value” for Chinese employees. It then suggests implications for future research and practice, especially the relationship between OA and EBBE for both Chinese employees, job seekers and applicants.

The private economy is significant to China, accounting for 65 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 56 per cent of total tax revenue. For Zhejiang, a private economy‐dominated province, talent recruitment and turnover are problems that hinder future development. OA and EBE may play a key role in intentions to accept a job offer, and as a mediator and a key variable in the initial recruitment.

The paper draws on preliminary interview studies in China to propose a framework for future research to clarify the role of OA and EBBE in Chinese job choice intentions and behaviours.

Recruitment messages and internal branding communications should focus on EBBE so as to influence OA perceptions and job intentions in China. Social, economic and development value are suggested as particularly important dimensions of EBBE in China.

The study clarifies the role of OA and EBBE in the process that leads to the intention to apply, respond to job offers, and remain with the organization, and discusses implications for further research and practice in China.

More studies are beginning to support the role of distributed, as opposed to solo, leadership in team performance, but distributed leadership (DL) has not always been linked to higher performance. It may need to be co‐ordinated, rather than misaligned or fragmented, and may be most effective in teams performing interdependent tasks. DL has not often been linked to team information processing, however; viewing leadership as involving information management, it is proposed that DL may be linked to higher levels of information exchange and information integration, of both shared and unshared information. A series of research propositions are then developed with the purpose of exploring further the role of DL in team decision making, especially in terms of information exchange and information integration processes in Chinese and Western groups.

The paper derives a number of research propositions from the literature on DL and information processing and applies them to decision making by Chinese and Western teams.

The paper presents a series of propositions on the factors affecting the effectiveness of DL and possible differences between Chinese and Western teams.

The paper presents a series of propositions about DL and relates the literature on DL to the literature on information processing in an original way.

This article introduces a systems‐centered model for emotional intelligence (EI). This makes it possible to consider not only the emotional intelligence of individuals, but the emotional intelligence of work groups and organizations themselves. Agazarian's theory of living humans systems (TLHS) (and its constructs) applies to all levels of living human systems. Using these constructs, we operationally define emotional intelligence from a systems‐centered framework (Agazarian & Peters, 1981, 1997). From the systems‐centered perspective, individuals contribute energy that is necessary for organizational emotional intelligence. Yet equally important, emotional intelligence in organizations is a dynamic output of the function and structure and energy of the organizational system itself, rather than a property of individuals. This conceptualization extends the focus in the field of emotional intelligence from individuals with a selection and personnel development emphasis and instead to building work groups and organizations that function with greater emotional intelligence. Introducing a systems‐centered perspective on emotional intelligence enables emotional intelligence to be viewed at all system levels in the organization, including individuals, work teams and the organization itself.

The UK public sector has had a long‐standing policy commitment to equal opportunities, alongside limited access to managerial positions for women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. In place of equal opportunities, a new paradigm, managing diversity, originating in the USA, has been proposed. This paper examines five areas of difference between equal opportunities and managing diversity: an internal or external driving force; an operational or strategic focus; the perception of difference; the focus of action; and finally, the epistemological basis. The paper discusses the application of this model to the public sector, discussing power and equity, the relevance of the “business case” argument, the focus on customer responsiveness, and a possible explanation for the 1980s backlash. There are case studies of an NHS Trust and a local authority. The paper discusses necessary attitudinal changes and skills to implement the managing diversity paradigm in the public sector.