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In the previous paper, presented at a meeting of the Co‐ordinate Indexing Group on 19th November 1970, K. P. Jones (NRPRA) had concluded that subcodes were likely to be a hindrance rather than a help in a co‐ordinate indexing system. At a meeting of the Group held on 14th December 1970, discussion and experience were invited on this topic. The following are contributions submitted to the meeting.

Investigation by questionnaire, interview, and inspection showed that the quantity of records maintained in the Devonshire House offices of BP Chemicals International Ltd was high (about 24 linear feet per user) when compared with that of other parts of the BP group (about 10 linear feet per user). Some reasons for this were thought to be difficulty in finding files stored in the basement and the irregular review of records for destruction. The basement storage area was divided among departments with their own systems of filing or indexing. Some of these departments had disappeared in reorganisation and the relevant records were ownerless.

Aslib Library holds a collection of thesauri, subject headings and classification schemes which are used to answer members' enquiries about the existence of schemes for particular subject fields and many of which are available on loan for two weeks. Our policy is to acquire all significant English language publications and bilingual or multilingual items with English as one of the languages.

The purpose of this research is to explore the effects of supplier selection method on key procurement outcomes such as procurement lead time (PLT), supplier performance and buyer team size.

Data were collected from a sample of 124 archival contract records from the US Department of Defense. A multiple regression model and multivariate analysis of covariance/analysis of covariance models were used to test the effects of source selection method on pertinent procurement outcomes.

The trade-off (TO) source selection method increases PLT, as does the number of evaluation factors and the number of proposals received. Substantially larger sourcing teams are also associated with the TO source selection method. Nonetheless, the TO method results in better supplier performance.

TO source selections yield superior supplier performance than low-bidder methods. However, they are costly in terms of time and personnel. Any assessment of supplier value should consider not only the price premium for higher performance but also the transaction costs associated with the TO method.

Very little research addresses a buying team’s evaluation of supplier-offered value ex ante and whether that value assessment materializes into actual value-added supplier performance. Low bidder tactics are pervasive, but price (i.e. sacrifice) is only one component of value. Benefits from superior supplier performance may yield greater overall value. If value is critical to the buyer, a TO source selection method – versus a low-bidder approach – is the appropriate tool because of higher supplier performance ex post.

The Police Training Institute at the University of Illinois designed a fitness training programme which allowed the participants to choose the intensity and mode of their exercise. Between June 1993 and March 1995, the incoming recruits’ fitness level was assessed before and after the training programme in order to measure the improvement induced by the training and to compare the recruits’ fitness level to the general population. The recruits significantly improved their flexibility (19.10 vs 15.13 degrees) and abdominal strength (4.91 vs 4.98 Lovett score). The male recruits improved their aerobic capacity (recovery heart rate: 86.27 vs 81.32 bpm) and the female recruits improved their back strength (4.86 vs 4.97 Lovett score). No significant changes were observed for grip strength (54.62 vs 54.21 kg), relative body fat (19.5 vs 18.5 per cent body fat), blood pressure (diastolic: 77.99 vs 77.52 mm Hg; systolic: 125.47 vs 125.10 mm Hg), and resting heart rate (74.89 vs 74.23 bpm). Compared to population norms, the majority of the recruits were within the normal range for blood pressure, resting heart rate, abdominal and back muscle strength. A large proportion of the recruits had good flexibility, average grip strength, and fair to excellent per cent body fat. Still, 33.4 per cent of the males and 25 per cent of the females were low to very low in aerobic capacity. As a result, the fitness programme has been modified in order to further improve recruits’ fitness.

This paper aims to identify and fill a gap in the knowledge of the contribution of Henry S. Dennison toward management and organization studies and problematize the assumptions underlying the mainstream understanding of scientific management and human relations.

Primary sources are in the guise of archival papers, as well as published journal articles, books and book chapters; secondary sources in the guise of material about Dennison, as well as interviews with family and friends.

The paper concludes that Dennison made an original and enduring contribution to management theory including, but not isolated to, personnel management, organizational behavior and corporate governance that influenced key thinkers of his times.

Dennison was a practicing manager – in fact, he was the president of (what was) his family company which operates today as Avery Dennison – but he still found the time and energy for active public service and to peripatetically articulate his management “praxis”. The paper reveals that much of Dennison’s thoughts and deeds have much relevance today. Among other issues, in his concern with reducing labor turnover and unemployment, in devising and implementing effective personnel management and in his pioneering work on human motivation, group dynamics, goal congruence, worker empowerment and executive compensation, issues of profound importance to business leaders today can be found.

To date, only piecemeal attempts have been made to chronicle Dennison’s contributions to management and organization theory, but these have been scattered across the social sciences. There has been neither any systematic, consolidated synthesis of his contributions to management and organization studies nor of his impact on the thinking of key thinkers of his times.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the physiotherapeutic benefits of bilateral symmetric training (BST) for stroke survivors affected by hemiparesis.

Other studies have investigated symmetric physiotherapy. A key difficulty in previous work is in maintaining mirror-imaged trajectories between the affected and less-affected limbs. This obstacle was overcome in this work by using a two-armed robotic exoskeleton to enforce symmetry. In total, 15 subjects, > 6 months post stroke were, randomly assigned to bilateral symmetric robotic training, unilateral robotic training, and standard physical therapy.

After 12 training sessions (90 minutes/session), the bilateral training group had the greatest intensity of movement training. They also had the greatest improvement in range of motion at the shoulder. The unilateral training group showed the greatest reduction in spasticity.

The rationale for symmetric physiotherapy is that it might promote connections from the undamaged brain hemisphere. The robot generated copious amounts of detailed kinematic data. Even though these data provided insights into the human to machine interface using different training modalities, it proved difficult to draw neurological conclusions. It is recommended that future research along these lines should include measures of neurophysiological change and/or changes in neurological activity.

This research suggests that the advantage of bilateral symmetric movement over other modalities is slight, and that robotic training has comparable results with standard care. If BST is used, care is potentially needed to avoid exacerbation of spasticity. Finally, this research includes a novel quantitative approach for evaluating robotic training.

This study is of value to therapeutic researchers interested in new physiotherapy techniques, roboticists interested in developing rehabilitation devices, or for rehabilitation game designers interested in using virtual reality.

CALM, in the words of the supporting literature, “is a computer based library management system for use in book, film, slide, microfiche and other libraries”. Its objective is to “provide storage and retrieval facilities for day to day and time efficient management”. The program is designed to be adaptable for a variety of libraries, and provides the following functions: acquisitions and supplier information, cataloguing and classification, indexing (by keywords and thesaurus), keyword searching, circulation and loan control including reader information, printed reports and documents from the system, and an optional feature to communicate with remote information centres, such as Dialog and Blaise. The wide range of functions, however, individually lack many of the features important to libraries.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.