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Since 1975, Borg‐Warner has been developing a strategic management system that has greatly contributed to its improved performance.

A spate of articles that vociferously attacks business strategy as a failure in practice, a useless concept, and a fad or current management vogue that is destined to pass into eclipse by the ascendance of a new “buzz word” has recently appeared in Fortune, Harpers, and other popular periodicals.

In the context of the protest against the recent Iraq War, some art and entertainment celebrities have used their access to mass media to publicly contest the legitimacy of governmental action. By doing so, they have turned themselves into new spokespeople, claiming to be more authentic intermediaries for the will of the voiceless. This paper – based on sociological interviews with various types of art professionals – focuses on how these representational claims were constituted and how they competed, objectively and sometimes explicitly, with the prerogatives that politicians hold by virtue of their election. I first analyze the public posture adopted by the artists. They fashioned themselves into “celebrity citizens,” which enabled them to assume a role of popular representation while maintaining a clear separation between this public function and their regular professional activity, in their particular art world. They based their legitimacy to talk politics on their access to and influence over extended audiences. The second section of this paper analyzes how the public of the arts is thus symbolically converted into a political public. In giving themselves a mission of political and civic education, the artists participated in publicly designing and promoting a new model of the “good citizen” mirroring their reinvention of the “good representative.”

Over the past two decades, most major corporations have installed some sort of formal planning system. Such a system represents an important commitment to rational, professional management and should, in theory, provide a sound basis for the setting of strategic and operational objectives and the allocation of resources.

The 1970s were a successful decade of growth and diversification for Norton Company. In 1979, sales exceeded $1 billion, ranking Norton 261 on the list of Fortune's 500 industrial companies. Half of Norton's sales were made outside the United States. In 1979, the company's return on equity was 20 percent. Norton maintained a leading market position in its historical business, abrasives, and in half a dozen other industries.

The patient journey from detection of an eye problem by optometrists to assessment and treatment by ophthalmologists can be streamlined by direct referral from optometrist to hospital eye service (HES). This requires locally agreed guidelines and training and feedback for optometrists to ensure high diagnostic competence. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the quality of the West Suffolk Direct Referral Scheme, one of the first direct referral schemes in the UK to include all ophthalmic sub‐specialties.

Two‐cycle audit of existing practice, including all new patients referred by optometrists and seen at West Suffolk Hospital during a three‐month period in 2003 and a seven‐week period in 2006. Three interventions: direct referral clinics for urgent patients; introduced in 2003; six‐monthly training sessions for optometrists; and regular, prompt feedback via letter about individual consultation outcome. Prospective data collection via proforma in both cycles; additional retrospective data collection in the second cycle. Diagnostic accuracy, perception of urgency and request of subspecialty clinic were evaluated.

The direct referral scheme streamlines the patient journey, and patients with acute problems have fast access to HES. In total, 99 per cent of referrals are appropriate. Diagnostic competence is high (87 per cent), and has improved with tighter communication between HES and optometrists. Agreement is less for referral urgency (75 per cent) and choice of subspecialty clinic (74 per cent).

The West Suffolk Direct Referral Scheme provides an efficient service of high quality. Good communications and continued feedback between community‐ and hospital‐based eye care services improve standards and facilitate efficient use of resources.

The British Food Journal is in no way concerned with politics, and as it would appear that the propositions put forward by Mr. CHAMBERLAIN are commonly regarded as constituting matter for political controversy instead of being looked upon as subjects for serious investigation and discussion entirely outside the field of politics, it would be an undesirable course and one likely to be misunderstood and, no doubt, misrepresented, were we to refer to the great question which is now before the country without plainly indicating at the outset that we have no intention of supporting or opposing any political party or any section of politicians. We believe Mr. CHAMBERLAIN'S suggestion that the subjects which he has brought forward should be discussed on a higher plane than on the muddy plane of party politics was a reasonable and proper suggestion which all men of sense who are not blinded by political bias should applaud and endeavour to adopt. We do not mean to say that problems of so complicated a character are capable of being accurately solved, in the present state of knowledge, by scientific methods other than actual experiment. They certainly cannot be solved by abstract discussions of a pseudo‐scientific character. The factors which enter into the problems of political economy are so numerous, so complex, and so little understood, that to endeavour to argue even on the basis of what are alleged by political economists to be well‐ascertained facts in the so‐called “dismal science” is to lay oneself open to the charge of theorising from insufficient data. HERBERT SPENCER has lucidly demonstrated the universality of this scientific crime. On comparatively simple subjects, in regard to which a man has no special knowledge, he will, if possessed of the quality known as common sense, generally decline to deliver oracular opinions; but, let a subject be sufficiently complex and let the data relating to it be few, obscure, and uncertain, then decisive opinions will be delivered by all and sundry,—and the more profound the ignorance the more decisive will be the expression of opinion.

SOME amount of loss by enemy action has occurred in libraries since our last writing, but none of it has been on such a scale as we had to record earlier. This may be due to the more restricted raiding of the winter months, and, as we have so often remarked, is no assurance that more and great damage may not be endured—for it will be endured—when the boasted offensive takes place. It is gratifying to know that readers in heavily bombed areas continue faithful to libraries. Books have taken an even higher place lately, and if in these areas the circulation figures are smaller, it is because the populations are smaller. Individual readers use more books than ever.

The purpose of this paper is to help develop the understanding of the nature of coopetition (collaboration as well as competition) and is set in the context of a Taekwondo organisation.

Interviews were undertaken with 25 instructors in various clubs within New Zealand’s “International Taekwondo” (ITKD) together with 25 students and supplemented with triangulation against secondary data such as websites and media reports.

The findings suggest that coopetition can be seen from various perspectives in order that the organisation as a whole benefits. Specifically, while the ITKD is a not-for-profit firm, individual clubs may compete for revenue from students joining them as opposed to rival clubs. However, clubs collaborate in various way such as once registered, students can train free at rival clubs and resources are to some extent pooled so the ITKD as a whole benefits, e.g. sending competitors overseas and bringing in senior people to undertake a promotion grading.

The contribution is to offer insights into the nature of coopetition at the sports marketing/entrepreneurship interface by suggesting that the potential paradox of collaboration and competition can be explained by considering the benefits to an overall organisation as opposed to individual clubs within it.

In the past decade many events have affected the financial services industry, especially for the banking segment. “Events such as deregulation of deposit rates, the fall of geographic barriers, an economic downturn, and increasing non‐bank competition, have all caused the banking industry's policies and leadership practices to be re‐evaluated by such authorities as shareholders, directors, regulators, and management itself” (Want, 1990). Also, due to industry pressures, many banks are having to stretch themselves into market sectors and services that would otherwise have been unheard of just a few years ago. Tough times have arrived, and throughout the industry banks are seeing slower growth in loans, deposits, and fee income. Overall, these changes have required some type of reaction from the banking industry in order to survive. “Conventional reactions to these types of industry changes could entail any of the following: cost cutting, revamping of the organisational structure, acquisitions of other financial institutions, sale of marginal businesses, elimination and reduction of support staff functions, new technologies and training efforts to improve operational efficiencies, and new marketing strategies” (Want, 1990). While any one of these strategies may be successful for some organisations, they can result in a detriment to others. “A key success factor in using these strategies is not to use any one of them in isolation. In fact it is suggested that a combination of strategies be used to incorporate one corporate strategic plan” (Want, 1990).