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Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

This is the third of a series of tabular presentations of data for operational computerised loans or circulation systems in specified countries. It follows the pattern established by the previous tabulations by grouping information about the systems covered under the series of descriptive headings that was developed as one of the first tasks of the then Circulation Working Party of the Aslib Computer Applications Group.

The aims of the paper are to: present a theoretical framework for analysing the functioning and consequences of control systems; understand and compare the structure and impact of control systems on two Italian public administrations also in relation to possible situations of crisis and failure; and examine the possible link between the organisational impact of control systems (and their failure if this is the case) and the characteristics of the sectors involved.

The proposed theoretical framework (analysis of the concept, methods, bodies, uses, coherence and impact of control) is applied through a parallel examination of two cases: control systems in Italian universities and ministries over the past 15 years. The objective is to understand why similar rules concerning control systems bring about different consequences and results.

Analysis over a 15 years period shows the effects of two very different strategic approaches and organisational choices in the face of very similar rules. Acceptance or otherwise of control, professional ability and competence, coherence between methods and the object of control and transparency all appear as discriminating factors in the failure or success of control systems. In universities, taking advantage of existing knowledge and professional skills, combining new internationally recognised assessment techniques with academic tradition and culture, focusing methods on specific activities such as teaching and research and arousing attention through transparency of evaluation outputs are the main factors which keep the risk of failure at bay. Evaluation has to cope with the allocation of resource and power issues, but is beginning to take on importance in change management. On the other hand, the case of the ministries shows how the new public management‐type of control exist in a closed cultural context where methods and instruments are taken up without adapting to core processes and where there is secrecy regarding control outputs.

This is an exploratory study that will have to be confirmed by further verification in the future that could include new cases to make the analysis even more exhaustive. The subject of the paper does not lend itself to quantitative studies.

Not to concentrate only on the methodological aspects of control activities, but also focus on all those features of control systems that permit the actual use of output and bring about concrete results in public administrations.

In the past few years, control systems have very often been introduced into the public sector without paying enough attention to how they really work and their true outcome. This paper faces the problem by putting forward a theoretical framework and empirical evidence that may be used by the academic world and public administration.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

The University of Michigan has installed one of the largest private communications switches in the world. The switch and supporting network are designed to meet the voice, data service, security, and video transmission requirements of the university into the next century. The processes of defining needs, selecting a vendor, and implementing the system are discussed.

The operation of political systems with management systems in salary administration is contrasted. This comparison will clearly show that political systems are dysfunctional in salary administration and should be replaced by management systems. But bureaucrats who operate with position power in political systems are resisting the transition to management systems. This is because these latter authority structures are designed to hold superiors strictly accountable for the quality of their performance. Additionally, management systems require salary administration decisions to be rooted in third wave principles, ethical standards and objective analysis. Efforts to perpetuate political systems as the dominant authority structures in collegiate organisations will promote waste, inefficiency, mismanagement and sometimes fraud in salary administration. These conditions undermine the productivity and commitment of personnel in their university.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are widely used by large corporations around the world. Recently, universities have turned to ERP as a means of replacing existing management and administration computer systems. This article provides analysis of the rollout of an ERP system in one particular institution in the UK, the particular focus being on how the development, implementation and use of both generic and university specific functionality is mediated and shaped by a fundamental and long standing tension within universities: this is the extent to which higher education institutions are organisations much like any other and the extent to which they are “unique”. The aim of this article is not to attempt to settle this issue of similarity/difference in one way or another. Rather, it seeks to illustrate the value of taking discussions of similarity relationships surrounding the university and other organisations as the topic of analysis. One way of working with these kinds of issues without resolving them is to consider their “distribution” and where ERP shifts the responsibility for their final resolution. This is a novel and insightful way of understanding how ERP systems are refashioning the identity of universities. The article suggests, moreover, that ERP software is “accompanied” by such tensions in which ever site it is implemented. The research presented here is based on a participant observation study carried over the period of three years.

Friedrich Althoff (1839‐1908), who created the “Althoff system”, has had a singularly important influence on shaping academic institutions in Germany for almost a generation. As a close collaborator of leading German scholars his influence lasted almost throughout the second empire (1882‐1907). He has been described as brilliant by some and disastrous by others. Recent advances in the new institutional economics and the economic analysis of the organization of inquiry, as well as better access to the archival materials, have created the possibility of arriving at a clearer picture of the Althoff system. Is a first attempt at an economic analysis of the Althoff system; therefore should be viewed as an exploratory essay. In particular, addresses three questions: What precisely was the Althoff system? How can we go about analysing the system? How did the system function and perform? The essay has five substantive parts: first, offers a brief introduction to science research as it is currently practised in economics; second, introduces the historical record and the main criticism levelled against the system and offers a stylized description of the Althoff system in terms of emphasizing key features; third, subjects the stylized features of the system to economic analysis, relying heavily on the property rights theory of the firm and treating the university as an economic institution; fourth, takes a slightly different approach by applying Gordon Tullock′s analysis of the organization of inquiry to the Althoff system; fifth, offers a summary of the findings and an economic definition of the Althoff system.