Search results

The paper seeks to show the relationship between organisational structure and flexibility of training has not been well researched. Focusing on the role of recognition of current competencies, this study provides evidence of the effects of the former on the latter.

In this paper evidence was obtained by comparing six emergency service organisations using comparative case study. Data were collected through individual and group interviews and from document searches. Organisations were categorised as organistic or mechanistic based on volunteer experiences and published organisational structures. The flexibility of curriculum, delivery of training, and recognition of current competence were assessed and compared with organisational structure.

The paper finds that mechanistic organisations had high levels of insular trust and relied on training as a means of socialising new volunteers into the norms and practices of the organisation. They required all recruits to undertake the same training and did not recognise competencies acquired outside the organisation. In contrast, those organisations with a more, organic structure, had more flexible training strategies and used holistic assessment to recognise current competencies that volunteers brought to their roles.

The paper could be replicated in other industries to examine the generalisabilty of the findings. The implications for the wider issues of flexibility and responsiveness of some emergency service organisations could be an area for further investigation.

The paper shows that achieving greater flexibility in training in emergency service organisations may require organisational change in order to build trust within a work context that can involve extreme risks.

The paper concludes that, while it was the fire services that were the more mechanistic of the organisations included in the study, there was sufficient diversity in their structures to allow one to conclude that across these four cases the more organic the organisation, the more flexible was the approach to training. It is concluded therefore that an inflexible approach to training is not an essential feature of the fire service industry.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a flavour of the content of the LILAC conference held in the Republic of Ireland in March 2010.

The paper provides an outline of the content, structure, issues and keynote speakers of the LILAC conference. The growing trend toward instant communication was as present at this conference with both Twitter and the Facebook LILAC sites available to attendees.

The conference held a series of themed parallel sessions divided into five tracks – Making Connections, Developing the IL Practitioner, IL and Research, Innovative Practice and Measuring Impact.

The conference provided an insight into emerging trends and developing resources for information literacy.

At the time of going to press, reverberations from the violent debate triggered by the so‐called ‘Bullock Report’, published in January 1977, were still considerable. The ‘Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Industrial Democracy’ (to give it its full title) contained, in its main report, certain far‐reaching proposals for employee participation in British industry. It also contained (a) a four‐page note of dissent by one of the seven signatories to the Majority Report and (b) a three‐man Minority Report which ran to almost 30 pages.

Academic libraries have sought to become the leaders in the provision of information literacy (IL). The purpose of this paper is to identify to what extent IL is being promoted through institutional websites.

Data were collected from all UK university websites (n=133) in early 2015 to identify the promotion of IL. Content analysis was used for the five categories: IL in the mission statement, visions or strategic plan; IL model or framework; IL policy; IL assessment; and, IL training. Data collection was limited to information in the public domain which could be accessed from individual websites, which were searched and browsed systematically.

In total, 85.7 per cent of universities promote IL to some extent on their websites in at least one of the five categories, however the degree of the information provided varied extensively. Less than 6 per cent of universities promote IL at institutional level. Only 17.3 per cent refer to a model or framework, 15.8 per cent show their IL policy and 9 per cent provide information on their assessment of students’ IL skills. Information on IL training is offered on 84.2 per cent of websites, the most common method being online tutorials, although 52.6 per cent only offer training for one or two aspects of IL, primarily information seeking and citing and referencing.

This paper provides up-to-date data concerning how universities in the UK promote IL in the public domain via their websites. It should be of interest to academic librarians who are responsible for IL provision.

The boatmen on the pleasure boats which ply between Westminster Pier, the Tower and Greenwich have of recent years taken to drawing attention, by megaphone, to the historic places the boats pass on the trip. One of the sights they point out is a warehouse on the south bank near Southwark Bridge which bears a large notice stating that it is the site of the Globe Playhouse. The notice, which is incorrect, is one of the survivals of the controversy which raged in the 1920's as to the position of the “Glory of the Bank”, the Globe Playhouse, where Shakespeare trod the boards and for which some of the world's greatest dramas were written.

From earliest times the land and all it produced to feed and sustain those who dwelt on it was mankind's greatest asset. From the Biblical “land of milk and honey”, down through history to the “country of farmers” visualised by the American colonists when they severed the links with the mother country, those who had all their needs met by the land were blessed — they still are! The inevitable change brought about by the fast‐growing populations caused them to turn to industry; Britain introduced the “machine age” to the world; the USA the concept of mass production — and the troubles and problems of man increased to the present chaos of to‐day. There remained areas which depended on an agri‐economy — the granary countries, as the vast open spaces of pre‐War Russia; now the great plains of North America, to supply grain for the bread of the peoples of the dense industrial conurbations, which no longer produced anything like enough to feed themselves.

The final report of the Departmental Committee on the Production and Distribution of Milk was issued on January 2nd. It is pointed out that the importance of pure milk in securing health for the nation's children is still insufficiently recognized, and that few people realize how far we are from attaining not only an adequate supply, but a pure supply, or the inherent difficulties in securing both at a price within the reach of the poorest consumer.—High prices designed to maintain production during the war, it is stated, have checked consumption and offer no permanent solution to the problems before the dairying industry. The committee have appreciated from the first that it is not high prices that the farmer requires or desires, but a reasonable profit on a very arduous industry; and that by steady development on the lines of advanced and scientific agricultural knowledge production can be increased and its cost greatly diminished, prices lowered, and reasonable profits maintained. The recommendations of the Committee are interesting and important. Under the heading of national policy it is submitted that the aims of an enlightened milk policy should be to bring about the utmost possible economy in production in order that the consumption of milk may be increased to the desired level; that an adequate supply of milk may be brought within the reach of the poorest families, that the hygienic quality of milk should be improved; that the total supply should be increased in order to meet the extended consumption1 that should follow improved quality and the education of the public with regard to the nutritive properties of milk, and that the exploitation of the producer or the consumer by any trust or combination, either of a provincial, national, or international character, should be prevented. In regard to education and research it is suggested that the development of research in dairying should be assisted to the fullest extent; that provision should be made for adequate itinerant instruction in every county with regard to the production, management, and utilization of milk, that longer and better proportioned courses of training should be provided for teachers of dairying; that educational centres should demonstrate the best method of farm and dairy practice; and that courses of instruction in dairy factory management should be provided. It is also proposed that further instruction should be provided for farmers and herdsmen as to the best methods of feeding and management of dairy herds and of handling milk intended for human consumption, and that further financial assistance should be given to dairy research institutes to enable them to carry out investigations into the efficacy of milking machines. To attain a reduction in the cost of production of milk it is proposed that systems of herd management should be improved ; only bulls of a good milking strain should be used; economical and scientific feeding of dairy cattle should be studied; pastures should be improved by suitable manuring; the practice of co‐operative purchase should be developed; and a suitable system of account‐keeping adopted. The keeping of milk records is advocated, and for this purpose it is submitted that the staff of the Board of Agriculture should be increased so as to facilitate the formation of new milk record societies, that courses of training should be provided for intending milk recorders, and that the information collected by the milk recording societies should be analysed by the agricultural colleges and the results published in a simple and concise form.

This paper aims to examine the evolution of the advertising agency and its offices in Australia over the course of the twentieth century. Historical accounts of advertising have paid scant attention to agencies’ attempts to organise and manage their offices, as well as the impact that these efforts has had on the work undertaken by agency staff.

This study draws on reports in the advertising industry press, as well as oral history testimony to examine the agencies’ changing layout and interior design. It identifies three distinct periods, which reveal the impact of modernist and post-industrialist ideas on the organisation and functions of the advertising agency’s offices and, indeed, their impact on the agency’s outputs.

This examination of the office space within the agency setting not only offers a new perspective of the advertising agency business as a whole but also demonstrates the importance of material culture for historians working across management, business and marketing fields.

The originality of this study lies in its use of material culture and space as a tool for examining management history and understanding its impact on everyday work practices. By charting the changes reflected in advertising agency office spaces, this study also offers a unique overview of the ways that management practices have historically interacted with business work spaces.