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Reports that most organizations see training and development as the province of the human resource department. Proposes that responsibility for this should be placed in the hands of the line manager. Investigates how the responsibility for training and development can be successfully transferred to the line manager. Concludes with a series of key learning points which help in the implementation of this strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of an adapted compassion-focused therapy (CFT) group treatment programme for individuals with an intellectual disability (ID), specifically aimed to help address maladaptive conceptualisations of masculinity.

Outcome measurements were competed at pre- and post-group and the effectiveness of the intervention were assessed using a Wilcoxon signed ranks test.

Findings demonstrated that the treatment group showed significant differences in their “gender role conflict” subscales including the Success, Power, Control and “Restrictive Affectionate Behavior Between Men” subscales; however, no significant differences were found on the Restrictive Emotionality or Conflicts Between Work and Leisure subscales. Furthermore, no significant differences were found on participants psychological well-being, psychological distress, anxiety, self-compassion or quality of life measures.

Limitations include that a lack of qualitative information regarding outcomes, a lack of control group and a small number of participants may have impacted the outcome of the research.

The Men’s Masculinity group had a positive impact on the participant’s sense of success, power and control, so it could be considered that this group enabled participants to feel more powerful and in control of their difficulties which is associated with the “drive” system of CFT.

Overall, this study adds to the small but growing literature that supports using CFT groups as a stand-alone psychological intervention when working with people with an ID.

In a recent report the author wrote about a service user, the author was challenged by the service user’s advocate in respect of the author’s use of the term “sexual fetish”. The author was informed of the advocate’s fears in respect of people involved in the service user’s future care and support needs feeling uncomfortable and possibly stigmatising someone having a sexual fetish. Consequently, the author was asked to change their wording from “sexual fetish” to “sensory need”. The purpose of this study/paper aims to highlight best practice regarding the most appropriate wording for individuals with sexual fetishes.

A review of the available evidence was ascertained.

A review of British Psychological Society guidelines and recent research highlights that what were once called “perversions” must be destigmatised, which will not be achieved if people continue to sweep the term fetish under the metaphorical carpet.

It is the author’s sincere hope that use of the term “sexual fetish” embraces and normalises people’s sexual fetish and results in heightened awareness and de-stigmatisation of what is essentially a reference to an element of the wonderful and pleasurable world of sexual behaviour.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of an adapted dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) treatment programme for individuals with an intellectual disability, via completion of a service evaluation.

Outcome measurements were competed at pre-, post- and 12 months follow-up, and the effectiveness of the intervention was assessed using a Friedman analysis.

Findings demonstrated that the treatment group showed significant differences in their “psychological distress” scores, but no significant differences were found in their “psychological well-being”, “anxiety” or “quality of life” (WHO-QOL) scores over time.

Overall, the current study adds to the small but growing literature that supports using the skills training group part of DBT as a stand-alone psychological intervention when working with people with an intellectual disability.

This paper aims to improve the understanding of e‐business, competitive advantage and their roles in the UK SMEs. This paper uses case studies to examine what is needed for SMEs to change from an “old” traditional business strategy to a new “e” business strategy.

A range of academic and practitioner literature related to IT, e‐business, and different business models is reviewed. Nine case studies were used to collect information from SMEs in the UK.

It may be possible for some SMEs to integrate the internet technology into an overall strategy and this new technology could lead to a competitive advantage. However, owners' attitudes towards new technology, the knowledge and skills of management and the workforce are recognised as potential problematic issues.

The results of an academic literature review and nine case studies were employed to construct a prototype of an e‐business model named “Competitive Advantage Through E‐business” (CATE‐b). In that respect the CATE‐b prototype model identifies possible e‐business application areas and proposes a plan for e‐business integration.

The small business sector of the UK economy is extremely important and the government expends considerable resources in providing support services for this sector. This paper investigated the reasons why SMEs move from traditional commerce to e‐commerce, the efficacy of the support services and the barriers encountered by SMEs adopting e‐commerce. The research methodology involved literature review and interviews with SMEs’ owner‐managers and a UK Online business adviser. It was found that at least two “e‐commerce stars” used by the government to promote its support services had in fact not used those services. The historical relationship problems between Business Link and SMEs were still causing problems. Cost was not seen as an inhibitor to adopting e‐commerce. Some evidence was emerging that e‐commerce may be able to save failing or struggling businesses. Other unexpected outcomes were that e‐commerce had social benefits for SMEs’ owners in reducing working hours yet still increased sales.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the marketing developments since 1992 at the interface of information and communication technology (ICT) from a marketing channel and consumer perspective.

The research method used was a review of contemporary literature in the field of ICT with particular emphasis on the internet in relation to web‐based purchasing behaviour. This paper examines the usage of the medium as an aide to shopping and selling since its inception and suggests future directions and areas for further investigation.

The findings chronicle the evolution of the internet from a mere tool to enable web‐based shopping to an entity that is able to think; and with the possibility of being able to express or channel emotions and social interaction among users.

This research, whilst purporting to be a conceptual theory building paper, based on thorough literature review, would by no means pretend to be comprehensive and aims to engender further scholarly discussion and empirical testing

In what ever way the web‐based entrepreneur and small to medium‐sized enterprise view the internet, it is not a business‐facilitator to be ignored; and those that do not treat it with the urgency and seriousness that it deserves, do so at their peril.

The paper suggests a novel way of viewing what we have come to take for granted. It is hoped that the discussions will be of value to academics and practitioners alike.

Describes how representatives are developed to succeed in competitive GP environments, by examining the policy of Searle UK, a medium‐sized pharmaceuticals company. Concludes that improving people‐management skills has to be accompanied by improved business management skills. Indicates that this has been achieved at Searle by giving autonomy to each business unit.

The purpose of this paper is to address the benefits of a participatory approach to autism research, demonstrating the positive effects of giving autistic project assistants (PAs) the opportunity to design and undertake a project researching the experiences of autistic university students.

A participatory approach was implemented, engaging autistic university students as research assistants. All the research team except project co-ordinators were autistic. Undergraduate autistic students developed and conducted a set of semi-structured interviews, with two autistic alumni responsible for data analysis and both scheduling and moderating focus groups. Participation in dissemination of the findings was open to all.

The results included in this paper reflect a portion of the overall findings, specifically regarding the participatory approach. The findings of the study indicate the perceptions of respondents being interviewed by autistic researchers in relation to their shared understanding, facilitating positive feelings and a sense of rapport in the interview process. The PAs were able to improve their research skills through the project, which contributed constructively to their CV and allowed them to feel more positive about being autistic, and specifically about being an autistic researcher.

This paper is one of the first to discuss the challenges and benefits of including autistic participant researchers at all stages of the research project, including research design, data collection, analysis and dissemination, being co-written by both project co-ordinators and autistic project researchers.

This paper aims to explore the potential impact on families of a greater emphasis on safeguarding for vulnerable adults, from both a legal and a lay perspective.

Case examples are used to illustrate some of the issues and problems that can arise in safeguarding situations.

In community settings there can be a tendency for Social Services to take an antagonistic rather than a conciliatory approach when communicating with families. In the setting of a care home, an example of the appropriate use of safeguarding is outlined.

The authors argue that Social Services should take a more conciliatory approach and be prepared to work in partnership with families.

The discursive format and narrative approach of this paper represents a useful and informative way of presenting important and topical insights.