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Based on personal observation, discusses personal reflections on job sharing – the application process, scope, and successes during the first year. Notes benefits both for the job sharers and their employers and indicates areas which the authors feel still need to be addressed. Gives some suggestions for those considering job sharing.

Discusses the building blocks required for National Health Trusts in the UK to move effectively towards local pay determination as part of an overall coherent reward strategy. Concludes that the current preoccupation with purely the pay part of the reward strategy, combined with the absence of many of the other required building blocks, may well result in an extremely patchwork approach to reward and will leave the National Health Service in the position where it has lost the advantages of a national system, while failing to achieve the benefits of local pay determination.

Introduces the 1993 Calman Report on specialist medical training, summarizing the report’s recommendations and then exploring its implications for service purchasers and providers. Illustrates these using discussions within University College London Hospitals NHS Trust and The Royal Hospitals NHS Trust.

The purpose of this paper is to consider how a South East project approached systems change to improve unsupported temporary accommodation (UTA) and the changes made for people experiencing multiple disadvantage (“multiple and complex needs”). This paper also covers some matters that are hard to change or uncertain, such as housing shortages and financial constraints. The paper focuses on a case study of the East Sussex Temporary Accommodation Action Group (TAAG) – a multi-agency action group.

A qualitative case study involving a thematic analysis of seven semi-structured interviews, with a review of published literature and internal documentation.

This example of setting up a TAAG shows us the value of having a dedicated forum to look at a part of the system that requires changing and to identify what works well. Creating a collaborative and democratic space with a common purpose brings different stakeholders and perspectives together and opens discussions to new ways of working. Equalising partners creates an opportunity to create change from the bottom-up within a system traditionally governed by statutory bodies. This study found that the TAAG has facilitated learning around trauma-informed practice and nurtured more sustainable changes towards a Standards Charter and women-only safe UTA.

This is one of the first qualitative case studies of a local systems change approach to improving UTA for people experiencing multiple disadvantage in East Sussex.

Visibility in the media is considered important for organizations, as it is alleged to affect their reputation, public legitimacy, and stakeholder relations. Strategies for media relations often discern corporations, public organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The media attention for those organizations is, however, often studied in isolation. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of media positioning to compare media coverage for corporations, public organizations, and NGOs.

A quantitative content analysis of the media coverage of 61 Dutch organizations was conducted. The comparison focused on three aspects of media positioning: prominence, context, and evaluation.

Public organizations and corporations were most similar, whereas corporations and NGOs differed most strongly in their media positioning. Corporations appeared most prominently in the media. While corporations and public organizations were more often related to organizational issues, NGOs were more often linked to substantial issues and received more positive coverage.

Insight into the content, amount, and tone of organizational media coverage is crucial for the formulation of public relations strategies by corporate communication professionals. The analysis shows whether and how the prominence, context, and evaluation differs among corporations, public organizations, and NGOs. The findings shed light on institutional factors that affect the visibility of different types of organizations, thus enabling future scholars in the field of visibility analyses in corporate communication to refine theories on drivers and characteristics of media coverage regarding different types of organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which racioethnicity influences perceptions of inclusion (i.e. information sharing, collective efficacy, satisfaction and relationship conflict) when working in racially heterogeneous groups.

Individuals were placed in groups in order to participate in ethical-decision making tasks.

Results reveal that individuals representing varied racioethnic groups are in general satisfied working in racially heterogeneous groups. However, reports of relationship conflict and information sharing varied as a function of racioethnicity.

The authors discuss possible rationales for differences in how racioethnic groups perceive and experience group processes over time as well as practical implications for social psychology and diversity in teams.

This is a resource guide for librarians who wish to gather books and other materials to use in promoting National Women's History Week or, as it will be soon, National Women's History Month. The emphasis is on history rather than on current women's issues. Most of the materials cited have appeared within the past ten years, but a few important older works are included as well.

On‐line update combines a bibliography of recent on‐line articles with a search example from a data base producer or an on‐line system vendor.

The purpose of this special issue is first to highlight the need for wider understanding of the “civilisational challenge” facing humanity, as it encounters and then exceeds significant limits to growth. The second is to present material that provides grounds for developing effective responses.

The issue draws on evidence from previous research, economic modelling and a range of other sources to investigate the hypothesis that humanity is heading towards an “overshoot and collapse” future. It further suggests that a useful way of responding is to explore the possibility that the prospect of collapse can be moderated or avoided through a process of “conscious descent.”

The main findings are that a very wide spectrum of policies, actions, strategies and options is available that can and should be used to help us avoid the most disastrous manifestations of “overshoot and collapse.” Yet there are also many barriers and impediments that continue to inhibit effective responses. This means that the process of coming to grips with the “civilisational challenge” will take longer and become increasingly costly. Denialism and short term thinking remain embedded in dominant institutions and mainstream practice. Currently, vastly more is miss-spent on various perverse incentives (e.g. advertising, the funding of denial, fossil fuel subsidies) than on securing the future of civilisation. This can be seen as a consequence of outdated values and inadequate worldviews.

The contributions here represent a sample from within a rapidly expanding field of enquiry and action. They should therefore be seen as indicating the need for further high quality investigation, work and action. The main implication is that this process needs to be taken seriously, properly resourced and eventually transformed into a mainstream social project.

The papers are contributions to an in-depth understanding of a complex and evolving situation. Their value lies in the fact that greater understanding and a commitment to early action are among the most productive investments available to societies vulnerable to the systemic threats outlined here. As such, the special issue evokes a fundamental tenet of foresight work in general. Or to put this in the words of Bertrand de Jouvenel, “the proof of improvidence lies in falling under the empire of necessity.”