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The purpose of this paper is to explore the outcomes of a final year action research project as part of an initial teacher education (ITE) programme in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The approach taken was to examine the responses of graduate and student teachers to interviews and written prompts within a framework of theoretical benefits of action research and reflective practice: linking theory to practice, transforming teaching strategies; transforming student learning outcomes; developing professionalism and lifelong learning; and raising the status of teachers through empowerment.

It was found that students referred to all of these outcomes in their responses, suggesting that classroom‐based action research is a valuable component of an ITE programme in the UAE.

This is a small‐scale study, but the results suggest that further examination of systematic reflective practice in the form of action research would be useful for teacher educators, especially those working in education systems undergoing reform.

Empirical research into effective teacher education practices in the UAE is limited. This paper will, therefore, be of interest to teacher educators considering action research as a component of ITE programmes and also in terms of considering tasks to promote reflective practice.

COMING OUT firmly against a Government scheme for splitting jobs in their sectors is the Council of Civil Service Unions. They say that “The net effect of job‐splitting would be to create a number of part‐time posts from existing full‐time ones which will be seen as an unacceptable dilution of full‐time posts.”

Using the example of the social housing sector, this paper seeks to evaluate the experiences of one organisation in attempting to learn more about a traditionally difficult to reach and engage group – young people – in order to develop more tailored services.

The research was undertaken as part of a Higher Education Funding Council for England‐funded University “Service by Design programme”, which was designed to enable the transfer of knowledge between the university and external agencies to improve service design. For this project, a focus group approach was adopted to capture the views of housing practitioners and young people. This was underpinned by reference to published literature and data held by the organisation.

The research led to an improved understanding of the attitudes and behaviours of young people, requiring service delivery staff and heads of departments to examine and change a number of organisational policies and practices. In addition, the research project contributed to evolving cultural change within the organisation and how young people were regarded.

The research was undertaken in partnership with one organisation and hence may have limited transferability. However, the findings reflect those of other more comprehensive studies referred to in this paper.

The paper argues that “customer insight” should underpin excellent customer service. Without a deeper understanding of diverse customer profiles and behaviours, attempts to improve service provision and customer relationships will have limited success.

The paper makes a contribution to ongoing public debates about how young people are currently perceived and about public sector reforms.

This paper aims to scrutinise the concept of “African Management” that increasingly fuels the debate on the management research of African organizations. Indeed, while management research in African context is all but invisible in management literature, the notion of “African management” emerges through a piecemeal corpus of literature that has arisen in response to the exclusion and marginalisation of Africa in the broad field of management literature. The idea underlying this reasoning is that the Western management model prevailing so far in Africa is inadequate because of cultural considerations. However, what is meant by “African management” still remains unfamiliar to both researchers and practitioners.

The authors conduct a selective review of the fragmented “African management” literature to identify directions it follows. This is carried out through an analytical framework aiming at investigating the usability of the “African management”.

The paper identifies the key elements underlying the “African management” narrative. It also articulates these elements within a frame which represents an unprecedented attempt to render advocacy of “African management” more insightful.

The vibrant economic trends of Africa and its forthcoming dynamics are on the spotlight. At the same time, this upturn raises again a central concern about African societies’ development in which organisations are expected to play a pivotal role. Yet the paucity and fragmented nature of the current state of “African management” research do not enable either practitioners or academics to get a deep understanding of African organisations. This article constitutes a major contribution by setting up a scheme of identifying convincingly the analytical parameters that really count in African organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to review and explore topics that might constitute a history of branding in sport and might also contribute to understanding today's sport branding practices.

The paper employs both secondary and primary sources on a range of sports across centuries of time and space. The paper also employs Mayer's principles of multi‐media learning.

The paper finds that sport brands have a long history driven by entrepreneurs and organizations through rule‐making, equipment, distinct names, and employment of new technologies.

The paper identifies a series of topics that merit closer scrutiny by historians whose research might inform contemporary scholars and practitioners of sport marketing.