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Tanzania is beautiful but, unfortunately, Tanzania's beauty is not matched by the prosperity of its people. This article is about the people of Tanzania and their struggle to keep pace with the world around them. In particular, it is the story of the people of one organization, The Tanzanian Rural Development Bank, (TRDB), and their efforts to better address Tanzania's rural development needs by soliciting the aid of American management consulting and training.

This paper examines an approach to the management of conversations in an organisational context. It explores a methodology used and refined in client organisations to create and coach high performance teams during a period of major transformation. It argues that mainstream approaches to management development do not address the core process which exists in organisations: speaking and listening between team members and colleagues. Moreover, it is the development of conversational disciplines, the management of listening and the use of distinctions about “past, present and future” which are at the heart of facilitation and coaching conversations designed to achieve breakthrough results. The paper draws a distinction between traditional management development, such as the use of competencies or outdoor team development, and the management of conversations, which in this methodology has its roots in a branch of philosophy called ontology. The aim of this methodology is to create learning and development that is part of the process of creating “breakthroughs” in team performance.

There has been an increase in the consumption of pork in recent years. Reports on a survey of the attitudes of Dublin consumers to pork. Identifies the quality factors which consumers consider when purchasing and eating pork, in particular pork chops. Determines the relative importance of these factors and ascertains consumer attitudes to the quality of pork available. Examines the responses of different market segments. Finds that most consumers are happy with the quality of available pork, and leanness is by far the most important quality factor for consumers when buying pork chops. Marbling should not be visible. Identifies tenderness and flavour as the most important attributes of the eating quality of pork chops. Juiciness was the third most important eating quality factor and many consumers perceived pork to be dry. Suggests that the production of leaner meat must observe any effects that proposed changes in procedure may have on these eating quality attributes. Concludes that payment systems should reflect the consumer demand for leanness, and ways of payment that reflect consumer needs in tenderness and flavour also need to be developed. Finds that, in relation to market segments, males and the ABC1 socio‐economic group were more likely to be satisfied with the tenderness of pork chops than females or consumers from other socio‐economic groups.