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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between management education, the performance of German engineering enterprises and the strategic knowledge status of the executives running those enterprises.

The paper is based upon the results of an online/posted self‐administered questionnaire conducted within Germany, augmented by micro case studies.

Findings suggest that the curricula in German Engineering Faculties fail to fully embrace business and management studies, in particular strategic management which has virtually no presence. Engineers dominate senior management positions within the German machinery and equipment sector yet they display limited knowledge of strategic management tools. There is also evidence that links performance with the application of management knowledge.

The study is limited to senior executives within German SMEs from the machinery and equipment sector. It is likely that the findings would be applicable throughout the German engineering industry; however, generalisability to other countries may be limited. Only a single year's performance (2007) was considered and this is also a limitation of the study. This was mitigated by a request that anomalies be noted, such as extraordinary write offs or a windfall profit, within the year in question, this was then taken into account during the analysis.

Based on the findings it is suggested that German faculties of engineering should enhance and expand management education, particularly strategic management, thus enhancing future performance potential within German SMEs.

This paper examines the level of management education attained by senior engineering executives with a key economic industrial sector in Germany, as such it is one of few such studies which investigates the link between management education and performance.

The purpose of this research is to examine the manner in which employees access, create and share information and knowledge within a complex supply chain with a view to better understanding how to identify and manage barriers which may inhibit such exchanges.

An extensive literature review combined with an in‐depth case study analysis identified a range of potential transfer barriers. These in turn were examined in terms of their consistency of impact by an end‐to‐end process survey conducted within an IBM facility.

Barrier impact cannot be assumed to be uniform across the core processes of the organization. Process performance will be impacted upon in different ways and subject to varying degrees of influence by the transfer barriers. Barrier identification and management must take place at a process rather than at the organizational level.

The findings are based, in the main, on an extensive single company study. Although significant in terms of influencing both knowledge and information systems design and management the study/findings have still to be fully replicated across a range of public and private organizations.

The deployment of generic information technology and business systems needs to be questioned if they have been designed and implemented to satisfy organizational rather than process needs.

This paper aims to explore the information sources used by school leavers when selecting a university at which they wish to study and the perceived reliability of these sources of information.

Using data from 306 pupils studying at various schools in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland it was revealed that applicants utilise mostly communication originating from the university itself, including the university prospectus and open days, and, they also classify such sources of information as being the most reliable.

There are some differences in the perception of the various groups under investigation; for example, potential female applicants perceive most information sources to have greater credibility than their male counterparts believe. In addition, higher performers make more use of the available information sources and also place more value on their worth.

This study set out to explore aspects of student university selection that have received relatively little attention. It was limited in its scope due to resource constraints and concerns of protecting potentially vulnerable respondents, while ensuring a reasonable sample return.

The study has accomplished it's basic task in that we are better informed as to which information sources students prefer and perceive to be reliable. Such information should, at least, allow professional student recruitment services to better direct their information salvo, but more importantly it should also raise some questions which are much in need of an answer.

The purpose of this paper is to explore, within the UAE, performance appraisal, culture and associated outcomes. It builds upon a mainly Western literature to develop the case for aligning culture with appraisal to meet stakeholder expectations.

A sample of managers was drawn from the Chamber of Commerce listing. Their views were sought on the extent to which they empathised with appraisal approaches. Opinions relating to organizational outcomes associated with the appraisal, combined with an exploration of culture issues, were canvassed.

Results suggest: commitment will be influenced by the extent to which an employee perceives a personal organizational “fit”; an employee's job satisfaction maybe positively linked to the extent to which they consider appraisal and culture to be aligned; and, there was an unexpected neutral effect relating to the impact of national culture.

This Westernised approach appears to have been favourably received: the paper examines why this maybe the case and suggests further research to validate the results and to establish the true extent and nature of this Westernisation. However, the findings are based on a small sample, drawn from an affluent and outward looking socio‐economic region, and as the research was explorative, qualitative analysis was limited.

A contribution is made to the literature as the research reinforces the view that appraisal and culture are linked and impact upon performance. More importantly the Middle East has received scant attention from researchers. By questioning the traditional view of Middle Eastern practice the research raises interesting questions concerning the current status of managerial professionalism and efficacy.

This paper aims to examine the information requirements and the importance of various types of information for potential students when selecting a university. Using data from 306 pupils studying at various schools in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland seven broad information categories relating to university selection have been identified. It also revealed that the ranking of the various types of information required and the importance of this information is relatively similar.