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Reports a study of the salesforce compensation practices in manufacturing companies which is the first of its kind undertaken in Australia. Australian companies rely heavily on salary as the main form of salesforce compensation, unlike in the USA where the majority of salespeople are rewarded using commission‐based means. To a lesser extent, this is also true for Britain. The companies in this study, like many European firms, make relatively little use of performance‐related compensation methods such as commission. These findings are surprising, given that most companies reported that the main objective of their compensation plans was to reward above average performance. Such discrepancies between objectives and methods appear to be widespread and can, in part, be related to the social and legal environment in which Australian companies operate.

That women are less well‐paid than men is well‐documented. How women perceive their apparent lack of “success” in the labour force is less discussed. Examines how a sample of Australian women perceive their levels of success relative to their male counterparts and one another. A sample of 284 public sector employees was surveyed as part of a broader study into career success in the Australian public sector. Overall it was found that, despite having significantly lower levels of pay and positions within the organization, the women in the study felt as successful as the men. When compared with one another, however, women who had experienced career interruptions felt significantly less successful than women who had continuous careers. This was despite the fact that the women with continuous careers were still significantly less well‐paid than the men.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the issues that arise for marketers and consumers in the branding of generational cohorts, with a focus on the baby boomers recent encroachment into the seniors market.

The paper reviews current knowledge of the brand characteristics of the baby boom generation and their consumption patterns compared to traditional seniors.

The paper finds that baby boomers, although now in their 40s to 60s, are perceived by marketers as a generational brand which is different from the objectively defined seniors market which, based on seniors membership organisations, starts at age 50.

Given the changing consumption patterns of baby boomers when compared with prior generational cohorts at the same age, brands need to reflect this generation's perceptions of itself to appeal the 50 plus market.

Because of the world wide phenomenon of the ageing of the population, the 50 plus market is the fastest growing and wealthiest market in developed countries. A better understanding of the influence of generational cohorts as opposed to age as a segmentation and positioning variable will result in more effective targeting of this cohort.

Since the 1970s public services throughout the world have undergone significant reforms in terms of structure and personnel practices. In Australia these reforms have concentrated on the introduction of affirmative action and equal opportunity programmes, the revision of selection and promotion procedures to reinforce the merit principle and the opening up of positions in the public service to outside appointments. Examines how recent reforms in the Queensland public sector have impacted on long‐term public servants. Finds that the effects of the changes are being unevenly felt by different groups in the public service. Specifically, it appears that the processes are being more stringently applied to women than to men.

Volume 15 Number 4 of Industrial & Social Relations includes an article by Catherine O'Regan and Clive Thompson entitled “Collective Bargaining and the promotion of equality for women in South Africa”.

The purpose of this paper is to examine visitors’ motivations for going to the South Luogu Alley, a famous hutong with an over 700-year history in Beijing, China.

The study applied a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from visitors on the main street of the South Luogu Alley.

It was found that most visitors of the hutong are casual tourists pursuing relaxation, including tension release and spending time with friends and family; seeking authenticity is not visitors’ most important motivation.

This study used only one hutong to assess visitors’ motivations in hutong tourism, so the results may not be applicable to all hutongs.

The research on the demographics and different motivations of the South Luogu Alley visitors can be useful to managers of tourism-related organizations.

This study shows that tourists with different motivations for visiting a hutong have varying requirements for authenticity. The reconstruction of some historical hutongs is not always perceived as negative, and the influence of Western cultural elements can be seen as positive if they contribute to the sustainable development of the local culture.

The term “hutonger,” which includes casual visitors, entertainment seekers, authenticity seekers and pure escapees, based on these respective motivations, is introduced to describe the specific groups of hutong visitors and contribute to the hutong tourism literature.