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It is proposed that two approaches to evaluation that are being used to evaluate a major quality assurance initiative in the field of mental health care should be incorporated into all quality assurance evaluations. The author′s own evaluative work has been centred on a quality assurance system known as QUARTZ which is currently being piloted in three health districts in the South‐East Thames region of England. The importance of evaluating quality assurance programmes is stressed and it is argued that two particular forms of evaluation, utilisation‐oriented evaluation and formative evaluation, are particularly useful in this respect. Health care quality assurance programmes are particularly important arenas for evaluators to examine, especially with their probable proliferation in the wake of the statutory requirements centred on 1991.

The question as to why it is necessary to evaluate an essentially evaluative exercise ‐ namely quality assurance ‐ is first examined. It is claimed that because quality assurance is not merely an assessment of health services but a strategic intervention into patient care and/or health care services there is a requirement to verify and monitor the type of quality assurance system being used. Such a requirement can be legitimised either on ethical grounds or on pragmatic grounds. The former position suggests that it is in fact wrong to employ systems whose efficacy and rigour is unproven and unmonitored while the latter position suggests that the potential fallout from a quality assurance programme that fails is of such magnitude that some form of evaluation ought to be undertaken as a matter of course. There follows an examination of some areas that one may want to consider in such an evaluation. These are based on the tripartite split of the elements of quality assurance found in Donabedian′s early work. Finally the question as to the relative merits of an evaluation contained within the quality assurance programme itself and one external to it is addressed.

Places have deep-seated meaning and serve to shape our social grouping and practices. Sporting stadia are a highly influential aspect of many people’s lives that drive the inexorable journey towards team affiliation, immersive experiences, intense loyalty and the creation of an enduring, local identity. This paper aims to explore how the nature of a sporting place has been shaped to change the practice of football as a sport, as a business and as entertainment. This paper uncovers how Forest Green Rovers (FGR) differentiates itself from the historical and socio-economic roots of football and uses numerous novel sustainability initiatives to re-imagine a new type of football place, club and fandom.

Over a two-year period, the authors used multiple data collection methods, engaging in participant observation, interviews and focus groups, at FGR and related events. A thematic data analysis was conducted to pinpoint and extract key areas surrounding the unique structures, practices and reinforced behaviours that have developed in FGR.

The findings show that FGR’s place operates as a central location through which stakeholders, ideas, resources and practices have been disrupted and re-imagined around the principles of sustainability. This fundamental shift in FGR’s place, changing its composition, character and reach, means that FGR can be conceptualised as a novel place synonymous with new global social movements.

This study presents unique insights into the world’s first socially and environmentally conscious football club. This study examines the construction and operation of the place that facilitates its actions which go beyond what has been seen and maybe expected from commercial sporting institutions.

The broad objective of the study was to develop assumptions and guide‐lines by which the cost approach to Human Resource Accounting could be implemented. The research was specifically aimed at determining the sensitivity of the cost approach for identifying significant differences in the investments made over two years in two comparable groups (16 subjects to a group) and how these differences could contribute towards more effective decision‐making in evaluating the relevant aspects of company policy. Statistically significant differences were obtained at the 5% level for total investments, academic development investments and orientation investments. The latter could not be regarded as material in absolute terms and the difference in total investments could therefore be ascribed mainly to academic development. The extent of investments in training suggests the necessity to optimize training from a cost/benefit point of view. During the initial months of the study, investments accrued at a proportionally higher rate than in subsequent months, eg 75.1% of the total investments were made during the first three months of service. It can therefore be said that relatively high labour turnover during the early months of service would carry a substantial loss potential, especially where there was no evidence of material investments in the orientation of personnel.

The chapter reconstructs the methodological trajectory of Polly Hill. Crossing the boundaries between economics and anthropology, Hill’s work was simultaneously an epistemic challenge to development economics, and a testimony to the complexity and richness of economic life in what she called the “rural tropical world.” Drawing inspiration from the process that Mary Morgan referred to as “seeking parts, looking for wholes,” the chapter explores the evolving relationship between observational practice and conceptual categories in Hill’s work on West Africa and India. It is argued that fieldwork, the central element in Hill’s methodological reflection, served two main functions. Firstly, it acted as the cornerstone of her views on observation and induction, framing her understanding of the relationship between “parts” and “wholes.” Secondly, Hill used fieldwork as a narrative trope to articulate her hopeful vision for an integration of economics and anthropology, and later express her feelings of distance and alienation from the ways in which these disciplines were actually practiced.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate children’s perceptions and attitudes towards sponsorship transition, specifically the change from Nike to PUMA as kit sponsors for Manchester City Football Club (MCFC) in July 2019.

A sample of 368 children, between 7 and 16 years of age were recruited for the study. Using electronic diaries, 1,577 diary entries were captured between February 2019 and March 2020.

Data reveals that children conceptualise sponsorship as a social exchange, with sponsoring brands seen as human entities and interaction with them reflecting the dynamism of social and familial relationships. Consequently, children in this study demanded prosocial and interpersonal behaviours from sponsors and sponsee during the transition period.

The research has an immediate and direct application for brand managers and the sponsee when considering terminating long-term sponsorship. Both the departing and incoming sponsors can maximise their relationships with these younger fans through an orchestrated departure, arrival and dedicated handover.

The findings enable marketing brand managers to effectively evaluate sponsor transition to maximise opportunities to maintain, and indeed start, brand relationships with younger fans.

This is the first study that has examined sponsorship children’s responses to sponsorship transition.

In order to address operational effectiveness in the banking sector caused by the 2008 global economic crisis, the purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of operational wastes that exist within four large Greek banks.

A Delphi study was undertaken with ten managers and ten employees.

The waste of underutilised people is found to be the dominant form of waste present and affecting the efficiency of banking operations, and managers and employees consider the waste of underutilised people as having a significant influence on the efficiency of the banking sector.

This has implications for managers of banking operations needing to address efficiencies in an increasingly competitive global economic environment. The paper also highlights the drawbacks of analysing typologies of waste across organisations and industrial sectors.

While some studies have examined the overall efficiency banking sector, to date, none has explored the nature of the inefficiencies that manifest as waste.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the social and personal drivers of co-creation in children.

A sample of 463 children aged between 7 and 13 years were recruited. Using electronic event-based diaries, 2,631 entries were captured during an 18-month period.

Data from 861 entries identified a series of anomalous external social and personal factors that drove children to engage in co-creation. These were for maintaining external relationships, dealing with addiction to the co-creation process and dealing with personal loneliness.

The study reveals new, unconventional and gender-specific behaviours that might assist marketers in understanding children’s complex relationships with co-creation and brands.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to examine children’s social and personal drives to engage in co-creation.

Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.

Using the backdrop of an (apparently) extended visit to the West Indies, analogies with key concerns of internal audit are drawn. An unusual and refreshing way of exploring the main themes ‐ a discussion between Bill and Jack on tour in the islands ‐ forms the debate. Explores the concepts of control, necessary procedures, fraud and corruption, supporting systems, creativity and chaos, and building a corporate control facility.