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This paper presents an historical reconstruction of the radicalisation of Alan Fox, the industrial sociologist and a detailed analysis of his early historical and sociological writing in the classical pluralist phase.

An intellectual history, including detailed discussion of key Fox texts, supported by interviews with Fox and other Biographical sources.

Fox’s radicalisation was incomplete, as he carried over from his industrial relations (IR) pluralist mentors, Allan Flanders and Hugh Clegg, a suspicion of political Marxism, a sense of historical contingency and an awareness of the fragmented nature of industrial conflict.

Recent academic attention has centred on Fox’s later radical pluralism with its “structural” approach to the employment relationship. This paper revisits his early, neglected classical pluralist writing. It also illuminates his transition from institutional IR to a broader sociology of work, influenced by AH Halsey, John Goldthorpe and others and the complex nature of his radicalisation.

Industry 4.0 is exacerbating the need for offsite construction (OSC) adoption, and this rapid transformation is pushing the boundaries of construction skills towards extensive modernisation. The adoption of this modern production strategy by the construction industry would redefine the position of OSC. This study aims to examine whether the existing skills are capable of satisfying the needs of different OSC types.

A critical literature review evaluated the impact of transformative technology on OSC skills. An existing industry standard OSC skill classification was used as the basis to develop a master list that recognises emerging and diminishing OSC skills. The master list recognises 67 OSC skills under six skill categories: managers, professionals, technicians and trade workers, clerical and administrative workers, machinery operators and drivers and labourers. The skills data was extracted from a series of 13 case studies using document reviews and semi-structured interviews with project stakeholders.

The multiple case study evaluation recognised 13 redundant skills and 16 emerging OSC skills such as architects with building information modelling and design for manufacture and assembly knowledge, architects specialised in design and logistics integration, advanced OSC technical skills, factory operators, OSC estimators, technicians for three dimensional visualisation and computer numeric control operators. Interview findings assessed the current state and future directions for OSC skills development. Findings indicate that the prevailing skills are not adequate to readily relocate construction activities from onsite to offsite.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is one of the first studies that recognises the major differences in skill requirements for non-volumetric and volumetric OSC types.

This study aims to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of auditor mandatory suspicious activity reporting versus the exercise of professional judgement in the anti-money laundering regimes of the UK and the USA.

The research draws upon the following sources. Firstly, statistics provided by the UK National Crime Agency, 2019 (NCA) regarding suspicious activity report (SAR) filing rates. Secondly, anti-money laundering legislation in the USA and UK. Thirdly, statements made in the political domain in the USA, particularly those which raised constitutional concerns during the progress of the Patriot Act 2001. Finally, statements and recommendations by a UK Parliamentary Commission enquiring into the effectiveness of the suspicious activity reporting regime.

The UK reporting regime does not accommodate professional judgement, resulting in the filing of SARs with limited intelligence value. This contrasts with discretionary reporting in the USA: voluntary reporting guides and influences auditor behaviour rather than mandating it. Defensive filing by UK auditors (defence to anti-money launderings [DAMLs]) has increased in recent years but the number of SARs filed has declined.

The study evaluates auditor behavioural responses to legislative regimes which mandate or alternatively accommodate discretion in the reporting suspicion of money laundering. Consideration of constitutional and judicial activism in this context is a novel contribution to the literature. For its theoretical framework the study uses Foucault’s concept of discipline of the self to evaluate auditor behaviour under both regimes.