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The food industry has always been supplier dominated, characterised by low research intensity, product line extensions and me-too products. However, recent changes have led new firms operating in the food industry to invest in research and development (R&D) activities in order to introduce innovations into the market and achieve superior performance. This paper aims to verify whether these changes are noteworthy by investigating whether and which innovation-related factors (investments in R&D activities, qualified scientists/engineers and holding a patent) can affect the performance of food start-ups.

A sample of 108 innovative start-ups operating in the food industry in Italy was selected, and a stochastic frontier analysis was carried out. This methodology was chosen because of the factorisation of the error term, which is divided into a unilateral component (revealing the inefficiency of the statistical model) and a symmetric component (revealing random gaps).

Statistical elaborations provide two interesting results. One concerns the error term (only random inefficiency affects results) and the other relates to innovation-related factors. Only investments in R&D activities positively affect the performance of innovative start-ups in the Italian food industry.

Results confirm the relevance of investments in R&D activities for Italian start-ups aiming to achieve superior performance in the food industry. These results confirm relevant changes are occurring in what was a supplier-dominated industry and disclose how start-ups should master the dynamics of innovation and allow for speculation on future industry trends.

The Ministry of Labour's recent survey of the Employment of Technicians in the Chemical and Engineering Industries provides some very useful information on these important topics — though, less than one might have wished on the industrial training of technicians

There is now widespread recognition of some degree of mismatch between the needs of industry and much of the provision of management and business education. There appears to be a gap between the traditional curriculum in business and management and the actual knowledge and understanding required to undertake the management task. This is exemplified by the experience that those undergoing formal training in business and management often report at their workbase to very successful managers who nevertheless would be often unable to succeed at the examination which their subordinates are taking — or indeed have taken. This phenomenon does not extend to science and engineering nor to the established professions. Qualified scientists and engineers, lawyers and accountants would, given some time for revision, expect to pass examinations being taken by their subordinates. This can arise because the nature of the industrial and commercial experience of those teaching science, engineering and professional subjects is often different, in kind, to the experience of those teaching business and management.

Skill shortages in technology are a source of anxiety throughout Western Europe. They are exacerbated by demographic changes which imply a decrease of 20–25 per cent in UK school leavers qualified for entry to higher education over the period 1984–1994. At the same time, there is a growing demand for scientists and technologists in the engineering industry, despite reductions in other categories of staff.

A paper explaining the criteria by the Department of Education & Science in considering the restructuring of the teacher training system during the present period of contraction has been circulated to members of the Advisory Committee on the Supply and Training of Teachers (ACSTT). The paper recalls that Government policy requires teacher education to be firmly integrated with other higher education. This means that where practicable it should be in major institutions with a significant general higher educational role, with initial and in‐service teacher education being closely related. There should therefore be as good a geographical spread of teacher training institutions as is compatible with overall numbers. To enable the teaching force to become a an all‐graduate profession, the teacher training institutions should be of sufficient academic standing to secure validation of courses and attract well qualified students.

Countless pundits have referred to young African American males as an “endangered species.” While this description of the state of African American male youth between the ages of 18 and 25 years can be said to apply in many different circumstances, nowhere is it more apt than in engineering education. Their rates of matriculation, persistence, and graduation in engineering trail not only those of their white, Latino, and Asian counterparts but those of African American females as well.

Provides findings from a survey of environmental management systems (EMS) auditors at ISO 14001‐certified sites of Australian enterprises. Taking a legitimacy theory perspective, this study investigates the way in which enterprises with certified sites are meeting their implied social contract with stakeholders (also termed “relevant publics”) on environmental conduct. Investigates whether EMSs, and related environmental audit functions, are being treated as quality assurance tools for the betterment of environmental performance, or as impositions to be complied with so as to maintain the credential of ISO 14001 certification per se. Seeks to throw light on this legitimacy theory issue by providing evidence about management’s motivation behind, and strength of support for, the EMS auditing function at ISO 14001‐certified sites. Obtains evidence about the objectives for the EMS auditing function, the resources committed to it and the perceived benefits arising from meeting the requirements for certification. Results point consistently to the conclusion that management have emphasised having enough compliance to maintain their site’s ISO 14001 certification credential.

“One of the greatest contributions of the Jost Report and the attention which Tribology, as a subject, has received in the last three or four years is the emphasis which has been placed on finding a good engineering solution, and that to achieve this end very often required the cooperation of many disciplines—materials, scientists, physicists, chemists, together with designers and production and maintenance engineers—not forgetting that the accountant also has his part to play”.

The boys and girls who left school this summer with good ‘A’‐level passes in Maths, Physics and Chemistry are a particularly interesting group on whom much attention will be focused. This does not imply that these are the only important subjects, or that boys and girls with different ‘A’‐levels are less worthy. Nevertheless, for those with good ‘A’‐levels in Maths, Physics and Chemistry almost all options are open. They can become doctors, dentists, lawyers, acountants, engineers, physicists, chemists — the list, if not endless, is certainly agreeably long. What is certain is that many of them will go on to become highly qualified and valuable members of society.

The practice of innovation management in Cyprus is investigated via case studies of innovative small manufacturing firms. The analysis concentrates on how Cypriot firms develop networks (or avoid them!) and the effects of network relationships on innovation performance. The behaviour of firms is related to two contrasting models of network development: First, the “local strategic network model” where firms intentionally develop and maintain a network of long‐term relationships based on trust, cooperation and mutual benefit, with a view to obtaining the necessary resources and knowledge for innovation. Second, the “local self sufficiency model” where firms obtain any required resources from other local firms through ‘arms length’ market based transactions and any technical knowledge primarily from foreign suppliers. Such firms follow an insular pattern of behaviour in order to protect their independence and innovative activities. The possible association between performance (in terms of profitability, sales growth) and innovation strategies of Cypriot firms is examined and the implications for business managers and for Government support programmes are drawn out.