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THE growth in recent years of drop forging and stamping is recognised as being fundamentally linked with the history of the development of high‐speed transport.

AMONG the aeroengine and aircraft parts manufactured by the drop‐forging and drop‐stamping processes are airscrew hubs and shafts, crankshafts, connecting rods, valves, valve‐rockers, camshafts, dashpot pistons, spar brackets, and windmill propellers. In addition a large number of smaller and less important parts are drop stamped to practically finished dimensions.

IN modern aircraft a large percentage of the parts and details which make up the complete structure require heat treatment at some stage of fabrication. The heat‐treatment requirements necessitated by any particular design, and hence the furnace equipment of the factory requisite for dealing with the manufacture of a given machine on a production basis, is, generally speaking, a function of:—

A CONSIDERABLE proportion of this issue is devoted to two articles of an essentially practical nature which, though appealing perhaps primarily to works managers and others in positions of responsibility in the shops, have their lessons also for designers and those employed in the drawing office.

Corporations, like products, go through various stages of development from birth to maturity to decline. Although there is conceptual agreement among management theoreticians and practitioners that corporations go through life cycles, there is little agreement as to the nature and characteristics of the cycles. Researchers such as Chandler, Scott, Thain, Lippett and Schmidt, and Greiner have proposed models of corporate development describing the changes an organisation faces as it evolves, what the changes mean, and the implications of these changes for management philosophy, planning and control systems. These models are different in their conceptualisations of the corporate life cycle but they all communicate the same theme: to be successful, organisations must be able to adapt rapidly to significant environmental changes. The critical relationships among corporate life cycles, management style, and planning and control systems are a logical extension of this theme. A corporation's business strategy, structure, goals and methods of operating usually differ markedly in each stage of the cycle; the organisation must be managed by executives with the skills to cope with the demands of each stage of corporate development.

Budgetary reform in the UK since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) intervention under a Labour government in 1976 has been prompted by a new conventional wisdom that public expenditure was too high, and consequently, "crowded out" private sector investment. Although this belief became widespread in western democracies, in Britain it developed relatively early and was closely linked to the wider debate about Britain's relative economic decline. The first section of this article reviews the main reforms of the budgetary process which these concerns prompted.

In the second section we note that, despite the political concern with reducing public expenditure in the 1980s, success has been limited and priority is now the improvement of the underlying control and evaluation mechanisms in government spending. In practice, the main policy activity of the Thatcher administrations was on gaining "value for money" from existing expenditure. These developments are discussed and the likelihood of success considered. The nature of the present annual budgetary cycle is described as are the most recent developments designed to finally gain some form of effective expenditure control.

Increasing research attention has been devoted to understanding the roles and responsibilities of boards of directors of North American corporations (Gillies, 1992; Lorsch & Maclver, 1989; Fleischer, Hazard & Klipper, 1988). This has resulted, in part, from increased interest in corporate governance. Scholars continue to explore and debate the question of who controls and is responsible for the activities and performance of corporations in a democratic society (Vance, 1983; Worthy & Neushel, 1982). In addition, the veil of privacy that had historically been accorded CEOs and board members is slowly being lifted. As a result, information about the membership and working of corporate boards of directors is starting to accumulate (Gillies, 1992). Corporate boards of directors also came under increased scrutiny and criticism during the 1980s because of specific decisions made by them (e.g. hostile takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, golden parachutes, excessive levels of executive compensation) and the generally low performance levels of North American organisations in the international marketplace. The latter has resulted in several suggestions for improving the effectiveness of corporate boards (Barrett, 1993; Patton & Baker, 1987; Salmon, 1993; Leighton & Thain, 1993). Suggestions have included the separation of the CEO/Board chairman roles, improved selection of directors, training of directors, clarifying roles and responsibilities of directors (and CEOs), and replacing directors who are not performing well.

The Labelling of Food Order, 1944, which has been made by the Minister of Food under Regulation 2 of the Defence (Sale of Food) Regulations, 1943, implements the policy set out in the White Paper on the Labelling and Advertising of Foods (Cmd. 6482). The Order details the general requirements which must be met by the labels of all pre‐packed foods, and also the special rules which will apply to both labels and advertisements claiming the presence of vitamins or minerals in any food. In order to give time for amendment of labels, the Order does not come into force until January 1st, 1945. The principal requirement is that the labels of pre‐packed foods sold by retail must show: (1) the name and address in the United Kingdom of the packer or labeller, or of the person on whose behalf the food is packed or labelled. Alternatively, the label may bear a registered trade mark. The labels of imported pre‐packed foods may specify instead the name and address of the importer; (2) the common or usual name (if any) of the food; (3) in the case of foods containing more than one ingredient, the common or usual names of the ingredients of the food in the order of the proportions in which they were used; (4) the minimum quantity of food in the package. A number of foods, however, are exempted from these requirements. In particular, the ingredients need not be disclosed in the case of certain foods if their composition complies with the requirement of Orders made by the Minister of Food prescribing standards made under Regulation 2 of the Defence (Sale of Food) Regulations, 1943, e.g., mustard, self‐raising flour, shredded suct, baking powder and golden raising powder. The manufacturer or the packer will normally be the person who labels the food with the above information, but provision is made to allow traders dealing in food otherwise than by retail to sell the food unlabelled. In this case they must furnish the purchaser with a statement enabling him to label the food in accordance with the Order. For the purpose of this provision, the application of a code mark to a container does not constitute labelling. Special requirements in addition to those mentioned above apply to labels and advertisements when claims are made to the presence of vitamins or minerals in a food. General claims are only permitted when specified vitamins or minerals are present, and the proportion has to be stated in the manner prescribed. Claims relating to the presence of a particular vitamin or mineral specified must also be supported by a quantitative disclosure. Provision is made so that a prosecution for weights and measures offences shall not be based on the contents of only a single sample, while bona fide mistake, accident and loss due to evaporation are defences to such an action. It is a defence to proceedings under the Order to show that the food was sold bearing the same label as when received by the seller, or alternatively that it was labelled in accordance with the statement supplied to the seller when he purchased it. In accordance with the provisions of the Defence (Sale of Food) Regulations, 1943, proceedings under the Order by Food and Drugs Authorities other than in respect of weights and measures offences may only be instituted with the Minister's prior consent. Correspondence with reference to the Order should be addressed to the Ministry of Food, Mussoorie, Kenelm Road, Colwyn Bay.

THE continual development of helicopter rotor systems has so far resulted in the use of about six main types, and it will be of value briefly to recapitulate their advantages and disadvantages in order to obtain a balanced picture against which the stiff‐hinged rotor can be judged.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze common emplotments of interpretations of the financial crisis of 2007‐2010.

The paper presents a text analysis.

The paper finds that the same “strong plots” are commonly used to explain financial crises to the general public.

The paper provides useful information on interpretations of financial crises.