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Data from sophisticated portable heart‐rate monitors and “work diaries” were used to relate in Mintzberg's “nature of managerial work” to physiological stress in a small sample of working principals. Subjects were categorised by years of experience, Type A and Type B personality, and were “shadowed” for three complete work days in their schools doing regular activities to learn what management functions were stressful. Principals were found to be working under extreme stress (a few at catastrophically high levels), for long hours, and that certain managerial activities were more physiologically stressful than others. Implications for training, deployment and the use of bio‐feedback techniques are discussed.

Ward Interiors has developed a new monobloc partitioning system called Fenzi‐Geometrica — a British product, despite the Italian name, which looks set for success in cornering a large proportion of the UK market.

Rodney Cooper, Furniture Partner of London's Building Design Partnership, carried out for the Designers' Journal a survey of partitioning suppliers and manufacturers. The results — and the attitudes of those people approached for information — tended to confirm the view that many users must have formed: that the industry has still not come to terms with the demands of a more sophisticated market. Often the product exists that will do the Job, but the detailed information is hard to find.

This year there were 36 entries in the office of the year award's three categories. The assessor's main objective is to judge the quality and productivity of the office work place in the context of the building as a whole. For this latest award — the eighth — particular attention was paid to energy conservation, the incorporation of information technology and the value for money received.

The reception immediately gives the game away — as the interface between an organisation and the outside world the design of reception areas should be a major part of any corporate identity programme, as important as the design of the company's logotype or letterhead.

The autumn round of exhibitions produced a great deal to interest facilities managers. There was no office furniture in Milan, but Orgatechnik in Cologne saw the launch of what may well prove to be important additions to the office furniture systems market.

Feedback is essential for Facilities. We need to know what you think, the problems you want us to address, the information you would find most valuable. The flow has already started — compliments, suggestions, and some forthright criticism. We want more. Criticism, of course, is hard to take. Take, for example, the handful of readers who took exception to Rodney Cooper's frank survey of office furniture showrooms in the West End of London. Although we explained that this was a personal view, it has become all too clear that some readers expect Facilities to be the opposite of personal — encylopaedic, authoritative, complete.

It may be hard to believe that system furniture has only been in existence for twenty years, but no real analysis of office work was carried out until Herman Miller formed its Research Corporation in 1960 under the direction of Robert Propst, leading to the launch of Action Office 1 in 1964. It was claimed to have a ‘forgiving’ nature because of the ease of revision allowed by breaking the workstation down into small components but it was not a commercial success — cost was one major drawback. Further design work gave rise to Action Office 2, still the brand leader in the UK and the progenitor of numerous copies.

Last month we looked at materials handling in the round, from catering supplies to waste disposal: in this issue we concentrate on techniques of document handling.

There's no doubt that preventive medicine represents a clear investment in the future for individual, company and community — but how is it to be incorporated into the work environment? This article charts the experience in this field of the London offices of a multinational communications company.