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There have recently been considerable changes in the UK Chamber of Commerce system, leading to the creation of a network of Approved Chambers and of Chambers of Commerce, Training and Enterprise (CCTEs). However, debate continues in academic and practitioner circles concerning whether UK Chambers of Commerce should move further towards the dominant Chamber model of mainland Europe, based on public law status. This paper assesses the case for and against such a move, in order to contribute to the understanding of the likely impact of recent changes and possible future reforms to the UK Chamber system. Various aspects of UK, French and German Chambers are discussed, compared and contrasted in order to consider whether a move to public law status on the part of UK Chambers would be in the UK’s best interests.

Postmodern conditions and re‐evaluations of marketing theory are prompting a re‐consideration of marketing strategies and methodologies. This paper is concerned with research issues arising from these changes and uses the case of retailing financial services as an illustration. Groups of financial services customers, once assumed to be homogeneous, are proving to have individualised needs and are resisting conventional segmentation techniques. Behavioural consistency and orderliness are giving way to fragmentation and market instability in what is described as the postmodern era. Financial service retailers, structured, formalised and risk averse, may find that their preference for uniformity inhibits their ability to serve with diverse, evolving markets. A research agenda is proposed based on a juxtaposition of postmodern considerations and financial services retailing incorporating recent contributions to marketing thought.

Defines two competitive ideas – competence and capability – and argues that neither deals adequately with the central issue of the present. Provides a model, to place these ideas in conceptual space – the vertical axis of which is bounded by the extremes of narrow and broad focus, and the horizontal axis by the past and the future. Suggests that competence is on an outer edge, being narrowly focused on the performance of pre‐defined tasks, and based on the past in that it can be demonstrated in the present only if it has already been developed. Capability is on the opposite outer edge, being broadly focused on the performance of non‐defined tasks, and cannot be demonstrated in the present, because it exists as potential/future possibility or capacity. To illuminate the centre, suggests a tentative solution called “capatence” – the necessary symbiosis between competence and capability that will allow for flexibility of focus and a grounding in the present.

The paper explores the potential problems which UK business support organizations may encounter when introducing the Business Excellence Model (BEM). Many of these problems result from the negative attitudes engendered by experience of past programs of change. A business support organization which was about to introduce the BEM was the site used to collect empirical data by means of participant‐observation and interview methods on the issue of implementing quality standards procedures. Conclusions are drawn as to the difficulties which business support organization managers are likely to encounter when introducing the BEM.

Reports the findings of a qualitative piece of research that was undertaken with professionals in the health field. There are numerous professionals working in the health/social services fields. Those who were the respondents in the research included chiropodists, nurses, doctors, psychologists and art psychotherapists. The sample was taken mainly from Essex, with input from a wider environment which included Newcastle, Southend, Manchester and Burnley. The researchers gave a brief scenario prior to asking open‐ended, qualitative questions about professionals' perceptions of: the physical appearance of managers; the roles of managers in the NHS. The comments made by the respondents indicate a disturbing degree of hostility towards and misapprehension about managers in the reformed NHS.

Discusses the audit processes in health care from the existing perspectives and argues the need to extend the current uni‐dimensional approaches which include medical, clinical and managerial quality. Argues that one way of expanding these approaches is to develop an audit instrument based on the views of service users. The implementation of audit has been a process with regional variations, which have created centres of excellence and centres where there is very little happening. Considers elements that are involved in devising an audit tool which is based on customers′ perceptions of service quality, and reports on an empirical study which is still in progress and which aims to develop a tool which is effective, efficient and based on patients′ views.

Seeks to explore the boundaries of managerial competence and takes as its point of departure the distinction between competence and meta‐competence. The Management Charter Initiative (MCI) defines competence as the ability to perform effectively and suggests that competence is the outcome of using knowledge and skills appropriately. The concept of management is problematic and the process of management is difficult to separate from its context. Burgoyne has used the term meta‐competence to distinguish the higher‐order abilities which have to do with being able to learn, adapt, anticipate and create. The concept of competence as used in the MCI is illustrated in the equation: knowledge + skills = competence. Suggests that a distinction could usefully be drawn between managerial processes which are competence based and those which are based on meta‐competences. Presents a number of typologies of knowledge and relates these to the concept of meta‐competence. Examines knowledge in relation to judgment, intuition and acumen.

All too often discussion of Capability proceeds as if it is clear what ‘Capability’ is: and that all that is required is the ascertaining of means for developing it. This paper seeks to explore the meanings of Capability. It provides two broad meanings, and discusses the paradoxes inherent in the application of these to the real world of management and business. On the one hand, Capability is defined as Potential, what the individual could achieve. Potential is an endowment, which is realised by the acquisition of skills and knowledge, i.e. the acquisition of Content. On the other hand, Capability is defined as Content: what the individual can (or has learned to) do. This Content has been acquired by, or input into, the individual, who then has the Potential to develop further. So there are different routes to Capability, depending on the definition of Capability one chooses. All of this impinges on the development of Capability. This leads us on to a consideration of whether the ‘Development of Capability’ is a meaningful concept.

There have recently been considerable changes in the British Chamber of Commerce system, leading to the creation of a network of Approved Chambers and Chambers of Commerce, Training and Enterprise (CCTEs). However, the question of whether British Chambers of Commerce should move further towards the dominant Chamber model of mainland Europe, based on public law status, continues to be debated in academic and practitioner circles. This paper assesses the case for and against such a move, in order to contribute to the understanding of the likely impact of recent changes and possible future reforms to the British Chamber system. Various aspects of British, French and German Chambers are discussed, compared and contrasted in order to consider whether a move to public law status on the part of British Chambers would be in Britain’s best interests.

The purpose of this paper is to describe linkages between the techniques of poetical expression and the language used by scholars to communicate management practice.

The approach is to consider the stylistic perspective of the language used for management theorising or research, viewing the documents produced by management researchers as communicating devices and cultural products which contribute to the creation or construction of the reality that they seek to describe and analyse.

The paper uncovers the poetic aspects buried – often deeply – in the language of management studies through which the concepts of, and ideas about, management are expressed.

The links between ways of saying usually considered to be in opposition are made known, and enjoyed.