ALBERT

Notes: Argues that the growing availability of information, especially from electronic sources, offers both potential and problems for the researcher. Increasingly, information has become a commodity, commissioned for a specific purpose and shaped to fit the needs of the commissioner. It follows that user requirements will dictate not just the research remit (what information to collect) but also the selection criteria (why the information is needed). Establishing why information is needed is an integral step in deciding on the particular focus or slant that any search strategy, and subsequent information analysis, must take. A comprehensive, or indeed a balanced, collection of information may be neither necessary nor desirable. End-users may only require information that will support their information need. Choice of information sources will also be governed by these information needs, and their selection is a vital factor in the provision of useful, relevant information and its successful communication to the end-user.

Notes: Examines the damaging effects that malicious computer abuse, such as hacking and viruses, can have on the development of an information-based society. Computing and telecommunications technologies are a key ingredient in the realization of this society, but are increasingly the targets of criminals and mischief makers. Highlights the apparent escalation in computer-abuse incidents, as illustrated by a number of recent surveys, and examines the effects that these may have on the public perception of technology (and, hence, the smooth transition to the information society). Also presents some broad recommendations regarding what can be done to address the problem. This considers both technical measures to help safeguard systems and revised attitudes to computer abuse, to insure that incidents can be dealt with more effectively.

Notes: Looks at the growth and potential of the Internet in relation to security issues. Presently, lack of security is perceived as a major roadblock to doing business on-line. Risks of system corruption, fraud, theft and viruses point companies to the need for enhanced security. Investigates the importance of securing a company's systems, its individual users, and its commercial transactions, and provides a checklist along with a brief discussion of available protection measures for these three primary security concerns.

Notes: Discusses the (primarily Catholic) Church in the "information society," and explores the nature of communications in this context, and specifically the Internet. Suggests that the Church must embrace today's communications media and leverage its position as social and ethical advisor and counselor within the primarily capitalist social systems within which it operates. Sees the Internet as morally neutral technology, able to be utilized as a force for good or bad, education, propaganda and entertainment, and challenges the Church to embrace its utilization.

Notes: Aquariums include exhibits and enclosures of freshwater and marine plant and animal species. Notes that a rapid expansion in the number of aquariums has occurred over the last ten years and in addition the complexity of exhibits and activities is also expanding in an aquarium "explosion." Points out that increasing interest in the environment and in marine life has led to significant economic success for aquariums. This is part of a trend in "entertainment and recreation involving animals" which also includes theme parks and zoos. Similar in many ways to museums and galleries, aquariums display species within restricted conditions. Lists various Internet addresses of aquariums using the Internet to take advantage of presentation techniques and wider audiences.

Notes: Considers the correct role of the European Commission in the light of its dependency on information from all European Union institutions.

Notes: Briefly describes the history of the Internet and OHIONET. Discusses OCLC's role and involvement in providing a comprehensive service nationwide. Covers OCLC's commitment to provide selected services to its members via the Internet, and details the advantages of this.

Notes: Proposes World Thai Expert Link (WorldTEL), to exploit new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), or telematics, as a main means of creating social groups and thus task-oriented workgroups in terms of motivational advantage and in a context of the psychology of interpersonal relations in a new geography of virtual space. Introduces the concept of "diaspora" communications in terms of the widespread distribution of special interest groups (e.g. experts, managers), highlighting related corporate communication issues, while concentrating on the Thai Expert diaspora. Touches on the critical philosophical issues and introduces a new relativity of space arising from the idea that, already, ICTs can enable spaces to move and people stay.

Notes: Discusses two online directories, Hytelnet and Libgopher, which allow users to connect to a library catalog on the Internet.

Notes: Describes two categories of scholarly Internet resources: peer-reviewed electronic journals and academic discussion lists. Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each in turn.

Notes: The Internet has evolved into a dynamic source of information as well as an extraordinary marketing tool that is able to reach nearly any user. The Internet phenomenon has become a source for gathering timely information and converting data into profitable results at a faster rate for many firms and individuals in this revolutionary era of the twentieth century. Participants of the economy from households to foreign markets have found this dynamic phenomenal system to be a way to reach the masses with a large percentage of the Earth's composite knowledge. Examines the revolutionary impact of the Internet on the discipline of marketing for the next decade and next century.

Notes: It is widely assumed - and frequently asserted - that university communication practices are being radically transformed by the introduction of electronic communication. Explores the introduction of Internet access in a single university, the University of Canberra, located in the capital city of Australia. The prime objective was to identify the frequency and type of use that academic staff were making of the Internet during 1995, with supplementary objectives being to record perceptions of users toward the Internet, and barriers to its effective use. The principal finding is not unexpected: academics were making very varied use of the Internet. Some staff were utilizing some facilities on a daily basis; others were yet to begin exploring this new communication medium. A particular surprise was that at the time of this survey the Internet was being used very little for teaching.

Notes: Presents a model which organizations can use to monitor Web site effectiveness. Argues that anecdotal evidence can be colorful but is not useful in structuring and managing an effective site. Suggests that traditional disciplines of composition and communication - explicit purpose, coherent structure, relevant conclusion - should be applied to Web site design. Concludes that customer feedback must be managed in a disciplined way, by ensuring that feedback is representative of the customer population as a whole, not just of those with a propensity to comment; and that the purpose and aims of a Web site must be thought through with the utmost care and attention to give a higher likelihood of creating an effective site.

Notes: Analyzes the Internet as a reference tool based on its ability to provide rapid access to authoritative information or sources of information. Reveals that the Internet provides no comprehensive mechanism for identifying quality information. Bibliographic structure is also disparate, making it impossible to adopt a coherent strategy for identifying quality information. A unified service interface would help alleviate this problem. An analysis of the use of the Internet by academic librarians reveals that existing bibliographic structure is not used to best advantage. Simple strategies which would limit these deficiencies, such as the use of electronic mail, are not used. Suitable training, from an introductory to advanced level, would alleviate this problem. Suggests the use of an amended version of Benson's decision tree as a pedagogical tool. This model would help to decide when to use the Internet and suggest search paths for different question types.

Notes: Discusses "smart cards" as electronic cash carriers. Examines technological innovations such as the Mondex "electronic purse" in the UK, where card values can be topped up by telephone. Forecasts that in the next few years, physical cash will be replaced as a main medium for transactions by "e-cash," which is cheaper to manufacture, more portable, and more versatile.

Notes: Financial services is undergoing a period of unprecedented change - new products, new entrants, mergers and acquisitions, downsizing ... and now another new delivery channel: the Internet. The performance attributes of the Internet are related to both the needs of consumers and the nature of financial services products. Suggests loans, cross-border services, payments and "knowledge/advice" as areas of opportunity in the early development of this new marketplace. Explores scenarios for the future development of "bancassurer" offerings and for electronic commerce as a whole. Draws on some of Hyperion's recent experience in helping to launch electronic commerce services on the Internet, reengineering of financial institutions and electronic cash, to suggest approaches for organizations wishing to participate in this new "marketspace." While businesses can now begin to develop strategies for exploiting cyberspace, argues that existing organizational structures may be inappropriate.

Notes: Develops detailed marketing strategy recommendations for online commerce based on the general popularity of the Internet, the unique nature of doing business there, and how its attributes may be utilized for a successful marketing presence.

Notes: Discusses strategies for implementing modern knowledge management curricula in academic programs for adult professionals. References the perspectives of multidisciplinary curricula covering information and society; multimedia and hypermedia; electronic information design and presentation; and infrastructure development and implementation. The analysis assumes the increasing involvement of highly trained professionals in adult education programs; the continuing growth of corporate universities in scope and breadth; the integration of corporate programs with traditional colleges and universities; and the increasing use of the Internet as a mechanism to coordinate, supplement, support, and integrate learning experiences. Advances historical and pedagogical methodologies as a means to provide perspective and structure for program development and future research. References an information technology (IT) program for mid-career information managers in Northern California and serving the high-technology area known as Silicon Valley.

Notes: Documents the sequence of steps taken in setting up a cross-cultural management course, and making extensive use of the Internet to add to the reality of the experience for fourth-year and MBA students who, like most university students, have access to the Internet, a communication medium that allows inexpensive contact with other cultures.

Notes: Analyzes a national random telephone survey, carried out in October 1995, on the motivations for and barriers to Internet usage. Eight percent of the random sample reported being Internet users, while surprisingly another 8 percent reported being former users. In total, 85 percent of respondents reported having heard of the Internet. The survey showed evidence of a digital divide, Internet users being generally wealthier and more highly educated, and blacks and Hispanics disproportionately unaware of the Internet. Social and work networks appear to be important for stimulating interest in the Internet and providing users with support. As to reasons for using the Internet, socio-personal development appears to be the key driver, while nonusers have a decidedly different set of beliefs about the Internet's value. As to the barriers to Internet usage, even experienced users find it difficult to get started, which confirms other studies of this topic. Barriers include cost and difficulties in understanding how to use the Internet. Concludes that the results of the survey indicate that people strongly desire an easier-to-use Internet.

Notes: Examines current and planned practices and the major benefits of communication-intensive information system applications. The Internet, once a government-controlled, tax-supported endeavor, is no longer restricted to noncommercial traffic. Contends that business use of the Internet has grown rapidly over the last several years, yet information technology managers still struggle to evaluate the contribution of this new technology in their organizations. Surveys were sent to a random selection of 500 companies to analyze current use and impact of the Internet in a business setting. Reports on the variety of expected values to be derived from use of the Internet indicated by respondents.

Notes: Considers that, in addition to all the positive attributes of the Internet, negatives are bound to emerge. Negative influences include the ability of children to access information that is not suitable for their age and the absence of laws or legal legislation to limit this access to the material. Laws are in existence prohibiting young people under the age of 18 years from accessing sexually explicit or sexually deviant materials. The problem with the Internet is the fact that there is no sanction limiting people from posting material of this kind. Warns that as an increasing number of children get online, solutions to these controversial issues must be discussed openly.

Notes: Knowledge of the Internet Protocol (IP) address is essential for connection establishment in certain classes of synchronous distributed applications, such as Internet telephony and video-conferencing systems. A problem of dynamic IP addressing arises when the connection to the Internet is through an Internet service provider, since the IP address is dynamically allocated only at connection time. Proposes and draws a contrast between a number of generic methods that can be classified as online and offline methods for the resolution of dynamic IP addressing. Online methods, which include the World Wide Web, exchange server and the dynamic Domain Name System, are only effective when both the caller and recipient are logged on to the Internet. On the other hand, offline methods, which include electronic mailing and directory service look-up, provide an additional means to allow the caller to leave messages when the recipient is not logged on to the Internet. Of these methods, the dynamic Domain Name System and directory service look-up appear to be the best for resolving dynamic IP addressing.

Notes: Discusses some of the limitations of virtual reality (VR) with reference to socio-technical systems - the interaction of people with technology. Argues that VR has potential applications but that these applications may prove to be more limited than some proponents would suggest. Points to a significant opportunity for VR technology to be used in strategic partnership marketing and supply chain management.

Notes: Describes the results of a survey of 281 adult women in the state of Florida. We used the 15 adjective pairs of the Malhotra self-concept scale to measure their self-image. A valid and reliable self-report scale measured their fashion innovativeness, thus identifying those consumers most likely to buy new fashions after they first appear in the market. T-tests compared the mean scores on the self-image adjective pairs between 30 innovators and 251 later adopters. Pearson correlation analysis was also performed. The results of both analyses showed that the fashion innovators described themselves uniquely as more comfortable, pleasant, contemporary, formal, colorful, and vain than the later adopters. The results were quite consistent with an earlier published study of college students, lending confidence to this approach to profiling fashion innovators and suggesting that using self-image could be a fruitful way to appeal to these important consumers.

Notes: Focuses on how brand managers in fast-moving consumer goods industries view their contacts with the various interfaces, allocate their working time and perceive the significance and quality of these contacts. Based on the product management literature, several hypotheses are proposed and empirically examined using data collected from a sample of 161 product managers, working for 48 companies in five different sectors in Greece. The results show that brand managers working in various sectors differ in the perception of their contacts with the various interfaces.

Notes: The processes of consumer perception and decision making remain relatively complex phenomena despite the depth of research undertaken in the area. One way in which these processes may be influenced is through the explicit mentioning of product attributes in advertising. This study investigates consumer perceptions of mentioned product attributes in magazine advertising for a specific product category. Results confirm a clear relationship between attributes specifically mentioned in advertising for the three selected brands and respondents' rating of those attributes against evaluative criteria for the product category. Factor analyses of respondents' ratings indicate a clear convergence of factors extracted and the mentioned attributes for each brand.

Notes: At an early stage in the new product development process, marketers often evaluate several concept statements in terms of customer preferences to choose the best concept for further development. Purchase intention scale is often used to measure consumer preferences at this stage when the product is still a concept statement or a mathematical position on a perceptual map. This paper discusses the limitations of two methods of aggregating individual preferences, namely plurality (first-choice) and the Condorcet (pair-wise majority) methods. The plurality method is subject to the top-box paradox while the Condorcet method suffers from the paradox of voting. The Copeland method is presented as an alternative to the Condorcet method when the latter fails to identify the majority's choice. Some limitations of predicting product trial are also presented.

Notes: Most airlines utilize a revenue maximizing technique called yield management (YM), which allows the airlines to allocate their fixed capacity of seats to various fare categories in the most profitable manner possible. The discriminatory pricing goal is to sell only non-discounted seats to the business travel segment. Suggests that yield management techniques may also be appropriate in certain retail settings where capacity (i.e. product inventory) is not necessarily "perishable" in the same sense as unsold seats on an airline flight however, its value may decline with the culmination of a well-defined shopping period (e.g. the "Christmas holiday" shopping period). Examines how knowledge of customer price sensitivity as it pertains to this shopping period, coupled with the appropriate use of discount pricing, can maximize the revenue gained from sales of a seasonal product associated with a specific holiday.

Notes: Service industries, such as public bus transport, are time-bound, which makes it impossible to inventory their service output. The potential revenue from an empty seat on a bus is lost for good once the service run is complete. Conversely, when demand for a seat on a service run exceeds supply, the revenue is also lost. As public bus transport has a high fixed to variable cost ratio, these demand and supply imbalances have a significant impact on cost recovery performance. Addresses a number of factors that influence the cost recovery performance of public bus transport using data from one of Australia's largest operators. It considers the shortcomings of current fare price structures and how these may be changed to reflect operational cost drivers in a way that improves cost recovery performance. The various non-monetary costs passengers incur when purchasing and using public transport are also considered along with methods of reducing these to increase the revenue-generating performance of operators' fixed capacity.

Notes: Data from national brand manufacturers suggest they are more willing to take legal action against other independent manufacturers than against retailers when they think their trademark brands have been infringed. Imitation by other independent manufacturers prompts national brands to be more likely to improve their products than imitation by retailers. Those manufacturers who have taken legal action against imitating retailers are less fearful of possible retaliation tactics, such as delisting, or losing shelf space in the retail environment.

Notes: In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to positioning and, more specifically, positioning of service brands. This is so because of the unique characteristics of services. Although some authors argue that there are no marked differences between positioning in services and that of physical goods, the vast majority of marketing scholars believe that it is difficult to embark on positioning strategies in services. Sheds some light on this issue within the context and aims to contribute to the debate.

Notes: A brand is a kind of sign by which we can distinguish one commodity from another. Commodity prices, as well as consumers' utility and firms' profit, are affected by brands. Presents a theoretical framework that incorporates aspects of brand in microeconomic analysis. The theory developed makes it possible to infer the quality of differentiated products from the price distribution of the second-hand market for that product. A case study illustrates the workings of the methodology; the application evaluates the quality of the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers.

Notes: The marketer's principal objective is typically to build a relationship with buyers, rather than merely to make a single sale. Ideally, the essence of that relationship consists of a strong bond between the buyer and the brand. Outlines six strategies for building that relationship: linking the brand to a particular need; associating it with a pleasant mood; appealing to subconscious motives; conditioning buyers to prefer the brand through reward; penetrating perceptual and cognitive barriers to create preference; and providing attractive models for buyers to emulate. The choice of an individual strategy or combination depends mainly on the nature of the branded product or service. The success of the strategy depends heavily on the marketer's understanding of the preference building and bonding process.

Notes: There is research evidence that suggests that perceptions of price unfairness give rise to consumer resistance to prices and result in decreased profit to the firm. However, it is as yet unclear what factors influence perceptions of unfairness. Answers the question, "What is fair?" by proposing that consumers sometimes infer a firm's motive for a price and that the inferred motive influences perceived price fairness. A study provides evidence that consumers use contextual information to infer a firm's motive. When consumers infer a negative motive, the price is perceived to be unfair and when consumers do not infer a negative motive, the same price is perceived to be fair. Suggests that marketers should: provide reasons for prices; consider consumers' likely inferences of motive and either avoid taking actions that are likely to give rise to inferences of negative motive or manage the motive inferred; and consider the inferences that consumers may make for other marketing actions in addition to price.

Notes: Rather than taking the more traditional approach of measuring brand equity for accounting or strategic reasons, the approach taken here is concerned with optimizing brand equity through parsimonious manipulation of the marketing mix. To this end a macro-model is first developed; this model is then operationalized and tested (in terms of predicted versus actual brand share) in three Korean markets. The contribution of the paper lies in the development of a methodology through which management can efficiently build brand power in their markets. The statistical methods (factor analysis and preference regression) are commonly used in commercial research and the research requirements to build such a model are quite modest - the proposed model makes a theoretical contribution but can also be used as a practical managerial tool.

Notes: An experimental design is used to examine the effect of products' country-of-origin on first-mover advantage. Specifically, focuses on the effects of favorable/unfavorable country-of-origin on first-mover advantage, as well as its effects with regard to "early followers" and "late followers". The results have direct implications for products entering international markets as a first mover, "early" follower, or "late" follower. Results indicate that with increasing number of competitors entering an international market, a product's favorable country image begins to lose its strategic importance. Consequently, the pursuit of first-mover advantage may be more relevant than a positive country-of-origin effect. Also, the results suggest that for products from countries with a less than favorable image, it may be more useful to be a "follower" than a "first-mover" because the advantage of being first in a market can be negated by the unfavorable country-of-origin effect.

Notes: Assesses how branded ingredients affect consumer product quality perceptions, confidence in product quality perceptions, product evaluations, taste perceptions, purchase likelihoods, and reservation prices of host brands of varying quality. In two experiments, we find that branded ingredients consistently and positively affected moderate-quality host brands, but only occasionally positively affected higher-quality host brands. Suggests that managers of both moderate and higher-quality host brands consider implementing branded ingredient strategies, albeit for different reasons. While moderate-quality host brands can improve their competitive position by using branded ingredients, higher-quality host brands generally do not. However, higher-quality host brands may benefit most by securing the most desirable branded ingredients for their own use, thereby blocking moderate-quality host brands from using a branded ingredient strategy to improve their competitive position.

Notes: Examines the product life cycle (PLC) concept as presented in much of the marketing literature, and the implications of PLC-based strategic action for marketing practitioners. A range of problems is identified with the PLC, and an evolutionary perspective for product management decisions is considered. Concludes that an evolutionary perspective is more appropriate than PLC-based approaches, and proposes an evolutionary model known as "Lamarckism", which is better able to account for the realities of product evolution than the Darwinian model.

Notes: Identifies some managerially relevant factors that influence the size of the price premium that consumers will pay for national brands over store brands in grocery products. We define price premium as the maximum price consumers will pay for a national brand over a store brand, expressed as the proportionate price differential between a national brand and a store brand. Overall, perceived quality differential accounts for about 12 percent of the variation in price premiums across consumers and product categories and is the most important variable influencing price premiums.

Notes: This study concerns consumer responses to new product offerings in the category of high-tech audio equipment. For the purposes of the study, consumers were categorised as high-innovators or non-innovators. The general objective of the research was to determine how differing groups of consumers view innovativeness, and how innovativeness is assessed, with particular reference to high-tech product offerings. The research was carried out in two stages; a series of focus groups was run to determine the dimensions of the problem, and a questionnaire derived from this. The questionnaire was then administered to visitors at a consumer-oriented trade show. Statistical analysis of the questionnaire revealed that there are significant differences between groups of consumers regarding the relative importance of various factors in the process of assessing innovativeness.

Notes: Examines the way in which the performance of the pharmaceutical product manager is evaluated. Attempts to provide a picture of the principal functions on which the Canadian pharmaceutical product manager is evaluated, as well as of performance appraisal systems currently used in the pharmaceutical industry. Two methodologies are used, both in-depth interviews and survey, in order to provide the most comprehensive examination of this area. Additionally, examines whether or not these systems are proving useful in linking job tasks to performance appraisal in order to achieve the goals of the organization.

Notes: Reviews instructional approaches based on the use of different media to provide examples of strategies and evaluation tools for media integration. Uses an introductory information systems undergraduate course taught at the George Washington University as an example.

Notes: The emergence of online education creates opportunities for positive education changes centering on improved learning rather than on reaping economies of scale. We can develop online strategies for using class time more productively; courses can be arranged to correspond to the varying learning curves of different students; and degrees can be tailored to the actual competencies students achieve. Further, the online world based in hypertext and virtuality creates the possibility of providing entirely new educational materials and environments. These improvements depend on faculty seizing control of the way technology is used in education.

Notes: Represents a case study of an instructional health-care department's journey through a technological metamorphosis. Highlights the process and challenges that instructional departments undergo so as to provide guidance for those interested in bringing about a technological transformation. Explores motivations for technological change, a planning process including budget needs, assessment of infrastructure, and priority determination for direction of resources. Defines a needs assessment process, including determination of the resource needs and interest levels of administrators, faculty and students, as well as the prudence of investigating pre-existing models. Finally, addresses strategies for technological success.

Notes: Netiquette is derived by merging the words network and etiquette. More specifically the term netiquette has been described as the conventions of politeness recognized on Usenet and in mailing lists. In the context of the new Internet global culture, attempts are being made to identify common standards of etiquette. Literally hundreds of specific netiquette suggestions are published. Identifies the following most frequently cited specific suggestions for online users: think first; write in upper and lower case; avoid abbreviations; be concise; avoid smileys; don't flame; don't take offense easily; don't evangelize; and know the audience. Netiquette breaches do not always bring retribution. Most breaches of politeness and courtesy may do no more than reflect poorly on the individual user. One who knows the rules of this new culture may well have an advantage over one who does not.

Notes: The National Capital FreeNet (NCF) in Ottawa, Canada is one of the largest and most successful community online services in the world. A sample of 1,073 National Capital FreeNet (NCF) users were surveyed about their demographic characteristics, their access methods, and their levels of satisfaction. The results indicate that NCF users are not a specialized group in the community, but are comparable to the local regional population in age, education, and income. NCF users most often connect from home using modems, often using equipment and telephone lines purchased specifically for this service. NCF users connect to the system regularly, and usage of the system was not strongly related to demographic factors. NCF users are very satisfied with the system and satisfaction and donations were not strongly related to demographic factors or use of the system. These results suggest that this community network has a broad appeal and that current and future online services may have significant widespread impacts on individuals and society.

Notes: Internet is a real phenomenon. This technology is being spread out in all fields of our society, including education. But Internet does not come alone; a new modus operandi is being deployed in the productive segments of our world. Presents a framework to implement Internet in K-12 Brazilian Schools. Shows how to make Internet a pedagogical tool to leverage the cognitive skills of the pupils and to be an enabler to reengineering the productive processes within the schools. Outlines the main obstacles to implement Internet, considering the Brazilian educational scenario. Presents conclusions about the need of a new educational paradigm for the schools and how the Internet can be useful in defining it.

Notes: Examines the Internet's potential for becoming an information highway. Defines the information highway and the Internet. Describes the characteristics of an information highway. The concept of an information highway puts some requirements on the infrastructure. The users of an information highway, who are located in the residential and business environment, have their share of requirements as well, but they focus on the requirements put forward by the services or applications they will use on an information highway. Checks whether the Internet has implemented these properties and how, or if work is going on to develop them. The framework for this discussion is the TCP/IP reference model. Places some emphasis on the IP next generation protocol, IP version 6 (IPv6). Provides an overview showing all the properties with an indication of how well the posed requirements are met. Concludes that the Internet certainly has potential for becoming an information highway.

Notes: With the speedy growth of information quantity, people need a mechanism to discover automatically the information that interests them. Such a mechanism is called selective dissemination of information (SDI). Describes the design and implementation of an SDI system with the ability of delivering real-time, personalized news articles. In addition to delivering English news, it delivers Chinese articles also. Focuses on the problems that other researches seldom address. First, discusses how to store and delete news articles efficiently, then describes the user model to let users specify their interests. Finally, presents an efficient method to embed the ability to deliver Chinese as well as English news articles in the system.

Notes: Two main areas of activity can be identified in the field of network security: the local area network and the common point between networks. Presents an overview of two projects concerning the above-mentioned areas. While the first will concern security architectures based on active firewall components, the second presents a secure intranet solution. The combination of active firewall components with the DMZ concept can translate a security policy into reality and will result in a high level security firewall system. One of the most important security problems in an intranet is to ensure that every user has access only to the information which is relevant for his/her work. In our project this is solved using role-dependent information access for each user.

Notes: The Java programming language supports the concept of downloadable executable content; a key technology in a wide range of emerging applications including collaborative systems, electronic commerce, and Web information services. Java enables the execution of a program, on almost any modern computer regardless of hardware configuration and operating system. Safe-Tcl was proposed as an executable content type of MIME and thus as the standard language for executable contents within e-mail messages. However, the ability to download, integrate, and execute code from a remote computer, provided by both Java and Safe-Tcl, introduces serious security risks since it enables a malicious remote program to obtain unauthorised access to the downloading system's resources. In this paper, the two proposed security models are described in detail and the efficiency and flexibility of current implementations are evaluated in a comparative manner. Finally, upcoming extensions are discussed.

Notes: Finding specific information on the Web can be difficult and time-consuming due to the Web's tremendous size and the current speed of network connections. Information agents that search the Web on behalf of users are invaluable. Since information needs are diverse, there should be tools for users to build their own agents that specialize in finding the information they want. These tools should be usable by non-programmers. This paper describes ARIS, a shell for constructing information agents without coding. Our approach is akin to expert system shells, where the user supplies the knowledge for each specialist agent, and a common engine utilizes the agents' knowledge. An agent's search is guided by knowledge about how Web sites in a given domain are typically structured. We also report on our experiences with two agents built using ARIS.

Notes: The study described in this article aimed to gather insights into what people think when they search the Internet for information. The premise is that people relate to information services and systems metaphorically. In other words, they identify the system or service as analogous to something perhaps more mundane or commonplace. These are known as wild metaphors. They help to explain the unknown or unfamiliar and help us to learn new things. They arise from our individual beliefs and backgrounds but they are also inevitably influenced by our collective experience of contemporary media characterisations of the Internet. This study relates the analogies that academics in Australia report for the Internet with the satisfaction that they derive from information seeking on the network. It provides some insight into how academics in Australia perceive the Internet when they use it to search for information.

Notes: The Internet has the potential to facilitate understanding across cultures and languages by removing the physical barriers to intercultural communication. One possible contributor to this development has been the recent release of freely-available automated direct machine translation systems, such as AltaVista with SYSTRAN, which translates from English to five other European languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese), and vice versa. However, concerns have recently been raised over the performance of these systems, and the potential for confusion that can be created when the intended meaning of sentences is not correctly translated (i.e. semantic processing errors). In this paper, we use an iterative paradigm to examine errors associated with interlingual divergence in meaning arising from the automated machine translation of English proverbs. The need for the development of Web-based translation systems, which have an explicit cross-linguistic representation of meaning for successful intercultural communication, is discussed.

Notes: This paper examines the concept of the Internet as a virtual cultural region with its own demographics and psychographics. Longitudinal studies of the changing make up of Internet users have been running for much of the 1990s and market intelligence companies have been applying their proprietary segmentation models to this data and also creating new models specifically for the Internet. At a more sociological level, what are the cultural norms and cutoms of the population of the Internet cultural region? This paper complements the market intelligence research by an investigation into the applicability of cultural classification schemes as exemplified by Hofstede with a view to information extant and prospective Internet involvement. Finally, practical recommendations are made in order to reduce the risk of activities likely to cause irritation of and non-response from this burgeoning new market.

Notes: Eight college and university Webmasters in three midwestern states were interviewed to explore their communications practices and activities by applying a traditional mass media gatekeeping perspective. The results suggest that gatekeeping theory is a valuable approach for studying individuals responsible for the mediation of messages in the emerging online media. Webmasters' personal characteristics and attitudes were found to influence their media content decisions, they share common values used to determine content and design, and they face a variety of organizational and related constraints, some exclusive to Web gatekeepers in an academic setting. Examples of gatekeeping activity and observations by the informants are presented, and suggestions for future research are included.

Notes: Considers the world-wide emergence of "educational superhighway" policies: government programmes aiming to connect school systems to the Internet - and explores their relevance to education. By examining the key actors and motives behind educational Internet initiatives the paper argues that such policies are primarily economically not educationally driven. The implications of this are then considered in the light of increasing global information priorities.

Notes: The Internet environment, with its packet-switched network and lack of resource reservation mechanisms, has made the delivery of low bit-rate real-time communication services particularly difficult and challenging. The high potential transmission delay and data packet loss under varying network conditions will lead to unpleasant and unintelligible audio and jerky video play-out. The Internet TCP/IP protocol suite can be extended with new mechanisms in an attempt to tackle such problems. In this research, an integrated transmission mechanism that incorporates a number of existing techniques to enhance the quality and deliver "acceptable" real-time services is proposed. These techniques include the use of data compression, data buffering, dynamic rate control, packet lost replacement, silence deletion and virtual video play-out mechanism. The proposed transmission mechanism is designed as a generic communication system so that it can be used in different systems and conditions. This approach has been successfully implemented and demonstrated using three separate systems that include the Internet Phone, WebVideo and video-conferencing tool.

Notes: This paper examines the issue of fraud on the Internet and discusses three areas with significant potential for misleading and fraudulent practices, namely: securities sales and trading; electronic commerce; and the rapid growth of Internet companies. The first section of the paper discusses securities fraud on the Internet. Activities that violate US securities laws are being conducted through the Internet, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission has been taking steps to suppress these activities. The second section of the paper discusses fraud in electronic commerce. The rapid growth of electronic commerce, and the corresponding desire on the part of consumers to feel secure when engaging in electronic commerce, has prompted various organizations to develop mechanisms to reduce concerns about fraudulent misuse of information. It is questionable, however, whether these mechanisms can actually reduce fraud in electronic commerce. The third section of the paper discusses the potential for fraud arising from the rapid growth of Internet companies, often with little economic substance and lacking traditional management and internal controls. The paper examines the three areas of potential Internet fraud mentioned above and suggest ways in which these abuses may be combated.

Notes: The increasing dimension and heterogeneity of global Web systems make their management with tools based on the client/server model more difficult. The mobile agent technology overcomes the limits of traditional approaches and proposes solutions that are suitable for the management of distributed and heterogeneous Internet-based systems. The paper describes the MAMAS environment and its implementation with a mobile agent technology. MAMAS has the goals of monitoring the whole system, introducing dynamic corrective actions and modifying system policies at run-time. MAMAS achieves these objectives by answering the guidelines of both security and compliance to standards. The choice of Java as the implementation language has made it possible to achieve portability, to exploit the language security features, and to provide Web accessibility. The MAMAS compliance with CORBA ensures interoperability with legacy management platforms.

Notes: Examines the general requirement for security technologies in order to provide a basis for trust in the e-commerce environment. The discussion is supported by the findings from two surveys, conducted by the authors, among general Internet users (i.e. potential target consumers) and commercial businesses. These surveys considered both the attitudes to e-commerce in general and opinions relating to the associated security requirements. Attempts were also made to assess the respondent's knowledge of the existing security safeguards that may be applied. The survey results suggest that, while there is significant concern among Internet-based consumers regarding the security of their purchasing activities, these are outweighed by the merits offered by the medium. The results also suggested a lack of awareness or understanding of the security technologies that are available and it is concluded that overcoming this problem would help to establish a wider foundation of trust in the new technology.

Notes: Although benchmarking has touched many areas of an organization, including information systems, very few examples are available on how this powerful methodology can be used to specifically address one of the fastest growing elements within information systems - the World Wide Web. This paper presents a case study on how benchmarking was used to determine how one organization's Web site compared to Web sites of related schools and professional organizations. The results of the benchmarking study provided a measure of how our Web site compares to the sites of related organizations, ideas on how we may further enhance our site, and also a way to regularly evaluate our site.

Notes: WebCT has been used to support traditional teaching techniques for the entire 1997-98, and half of the 1998-99, academic years. It was used within the structure of over 60 courses (enrolling a total of more than 1,000 students) in the English, Theology, Modern Languages, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Management Information Systems, Law, Pharmacy, Medicine, and Business programs. Concerned with the impact WebCT might have within a traditionally oriented liberal arts teaching environment, the author explored the views of the students, rather than the faculty and system administrators, who were required to use the WebCT tools in their classes. Data from students addressing the use of WebCT in their classes are now available for three full semesters, providing an expanded assessment over earlier findings. The ramifications of the use of WebCT as a course adjunct and course presentation tool are addressed based upon the data collected from Creighton University students over the past 18 months of WebCT use.

Notes: Describes how Dickinson College (Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA) has redesigned the teaching methods in introductory physics courses to take advantage of findings in physics education research and introduce students to the use of modern computer tools. Applications include data analysis, graphing and curve fitting; calculations and modeling; video analysis; and microcomputer-based laboratory tools.

Notes: Describes the experience at Rollins College, of delivering live imagery to the Web. Outlines the steps taken, and the end result. Uses Web cams to deliver a temporary solution. Argues that real-time video delivery is on the horizon.

Notes: Provides insight into the benefits and effectiveness of online education from the perspective of one graduate student attending an almost completely "virtual" university. Includes the author's observations and comments, but also contains quotes from researchers who have been investigating this alternative education option for several years. Issues explored focus on the differences between traditional and online education, emphasizing the ability of the computer-based online environment to expand the experiences and deepen the learning opportunities for students choosing this mode of delivery.

Notes: Considers the growth performance of team-starts (businesses founded by more than one individual) against the performance of enterprises founded by single individuals. Previous research, mainly conducted in the USA has found a significant link between team-starts and superior growth performance. However, this study finds no such link. It is concluded that future research should concentrate on in-depth case studies of team dynamics rather than trying to draw generalisations about the growth potential of team-starts en masse.

Notes: In order to capitalize on the various technical and behavioural skills needed for a project, system development activities frequently are performed by teams. By surveying 239 information systems (IS) professionals, reports how IS managers, project leaders, and system analysts evaluate the importance of six criteria for determining the effectiveness of an IS team project. Results show that there is a significant difference among the IS professionals. IS managers give more weight to the amount of work a team produced, adherence to schedule, and adherence to budget than do project leaders and system analysts. Results indicate that all IS professionals report that they regard the quality of work produced by the team as the most critical criterion.

Notes: Two issues which confront today's managers are diversity and teams. The contradictory nature of these two terms, in the form of a diverse team, makes it appropriate that the role of many traditional project management tools and techniques be examined. This article describes how the leadership of a diverse team was able to successfully accomplish a major project on time and under budget. They used traditional project management tools and techniques but modified them to fit the requirements of the team. One primary area for focus was on identifying behaviors all team members should exhibit in order to for the project to be successful. After the behaviors were identified, applied behavior analysis was used to reinforce the desired behaviors. By focusing on behaviors which built trust and encouraged open communications, the team was able to take advantage of the diverse experience and backgrounds of all team members. This allowed the team to push decision making well down into the organization, motivate all team members around the objectives of the project and develop flexible processes which were enhanced as the project moved forward. This article attempts to describe and explain the major lessons the team felt they learned for this project.

Notes: Self-managing teams have been credited with many positive payoffs. These include increased quality, productivity, employee quality of work life, and decreases in absenteeism and turnover. Significant attention has been devoted to the actual benefits derived from these group applications. What is typically lacking is exploration of the road-blocks to self-managed team success. Examines an important challenge to SMT success - the threats that groups face when making decisions. Notable evidence indicates that cohesive groups (such as self-managing teams) tend to create internal pressures towards conformity that interfere with constructive critical analysis and ultimately lead to dysfunctional decisions. The term groupthink has been coined for this process that threatens effective group decision making. Addresses this challenge in some detail. In particular, proposes a new effective group condition - teamthink - a group decision-making process that enables groups to make effective decisions while avoiding the pitfalls of groupthink.

Notes: Uses Kelly's personal construct theory and the technique of repertory grid analysis to identify constructs of team performance. These constructs are unique to each team and are derived directly from the team members themselves. Once team members have generated their personal constructs of team performance, they give a rating for their team in comparison with their views of teams they know of as "good teams", "bad teams," and those in between, as well as (for contrast) their experience of well-acted and badly-acted plays. This method of measuring team performance has advantages over the traditional, all-purpose questionnaire or checklist in tailoring the concept of team performance uniquely to the team of interest. In addition, the way the results are displayed gives team members a "picture" of their team's performance. This has proved very useful for feedback of results to the team members and in encouraging discussion on how team performance could be improved.

Notes: Presents the research frame, methods and results of a study of top team competences in small- to medium-sized enterprises sponsored by the Training and Employment Agency in Northern Ireland. Explores a "postulated" framework of competence using a modified version of repertory grid with 31 successful companies who have a working top team. The results confirmed the framework and give core competences at two linked levels: competence domains, areas of activity regarded as an important focus for performance excellence and competences, integrated sets of behaviour which can be directed towards successful goals achievement within competence domains. Validation of the results is given by the outcomes of follow-up interviews and the comparison with other work. Holds that the results emphasize a radical insight into the notion of managerial competence in the smaller company.

Notes: Indicates that business process re-engineering (BPR) is becoming more widely adopted within hospital and healthcare organizations. However, process management in a public sector and healthcare context raises particular problems. Shows that a European Commission supported project has examined the European application of re-engineering approaches to healthcare processes. It has also undertaken detailed analyses in two pilot sites in order to develop an approach to process management, including a re-engineering framework and methodology, adapted to the particular requirements of the healthcare context. Presents the findings of the European Commission supported HOCAPRIT project.

Notes: Based on a project performed at a medium-sized producer of medical utensils, reviews some of the problems which the company experienced in connection with the system built up during ISO 9001 certification, and the re-engineering efforts which were performed in order to relieve these problems. Focuses in particular on a re-structuring of the company's system for production documentation and its relation to the traceability of their products. This system was radically altered during the project without the traceability requirements being violated or reduced. These changes resulted in a marked increase in productivity.

Notes: Reengineering is becoming an increasingly popular option for corporations seeking radical process change. Central to the success of reengineering is the coordination of information technology (IT) throughout the organization. Essentially, IT represents the core mechanism of information flow. When companies improve core IT processes, such as gathering data only once, integrating cross-functional systems or increasing information speed to customers, radical business process change is possible. However, for IT to be an enabler of reengineering or organizational change, it is imperative that managers are conversant with the various methods by which IT can help advance process change. At the same time, management needs to be aware of the numerous pitfalls that may doom any change effort using IT.

Notes: Investigates the perceptions of staff in regard to critical success factors (CSFs) for successful BPR implementation in the public sector. The research methodology involved semi-structured interviews and staff surveys within a large public sector organisation. The results of the study show that many of the key CSFs identified for BPR in the private sector are equally relevant to the success of BPR in the public domain. The factors deemed most important for successful BPR in the public sector included items such as: top management support, commitment and understanding of BPR; communication; empowerment; and alleviation of downsizing fears. Also identifies a number of unique characteristics of public sector organisations which have a bearing on the application of BPR. These include: the existence of many intricate overlapping processes with multiple stakeholders; the existence of a professional workforce; and the existence of defined internal organisational boundaries.

Notes: The growing importance of the service sector in almost every economy in the world has created a significant amount of interest in service operations. In practice, many service sectors have sought and made use of various enhancement programs to improve their operations and performance in an attempt to hold competitive success. As most researchers recognize, service operations link with customers. The customers as participants act in the service operations system driven by the goal of sufficing his/her added values. This is one of the distinctive features of service production and consumption. In the paper, first, we propose the idea of service operations improvement by mapping objectively the service experience of customers from the view of customer journey. Second, a portraying scheme of service experience of customers based on the IDEF3 technique is proposed, and last, some implications on service operations improvement are given.

Notes: An overview of the success/failure literature in new product development points to a long list of critical success factors (CSF), which define what should be done to enhance new product success rates but not how to do it. The net result is failure rates which are marginal improvements on previous decades. The basic tenet of this paper is that the effective use of market information throughout the new product development process (NPD) can enhance the success rates of new products. We examine the contingencies affecting the perceived utility and use of market information in the NPD process and develop propositions describing these contingencies. The outcome of our discussion is a conceptual framework, which can aid research in this critical area of organisational activity.

Notes: Notes that benchmarking is an under-utilised tool in the field of innovation. Examines consumer brands in the UK cosmetics and toiletries sector and attempts to use both soft and hard metrics in terms of benchmarking measurement. Considers various types of benchmarking approach and also the nature of both "hard" and "soft" measurement. Focuses on numerous factors relating to brands, using data from the cosmetics and toiletries sector. Concludes by underlining the need for organizations to pay attention to both quantitative and qualitative dimensions if benchmarking is to be effective.

Notes: The article will propose strategic community management as a new management style and innovation technique for large, established companies, that is implemented through the creation of a variety of strategic business communities. The article will take up, as a new model case of the use of strategic community management in business, the expansion of Japan's multimedia communication market achieved by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, Inc. (hereafter, NTT), Japan's largest telecommunications carrier, over roughly the past four years. The article will explain how NTT cultivated this new multimedia market, which was spawned from its creation of business communities (both internal and external, and including communities with customers) using strategic outsourcing and various strategic partnerships with businesses in other industries.

Notes: The study of franchising as a small business growth strategy is only weakly researched and understood. This preliminary, qualitative investigation examines the experiences of 17 operational and five "failed" franchises in the UK, in translating their business concepts into a franchise format. It reveals that small firms select franchising as a growth strategy for both economic and idiosyncratic reasons, but that economic reasons tend to prevail. The findings suggest that franchising is a viable growth strategy for small firms and that per se it creates few major problems for growth-oriented small businesses. It is argued that further research is needed, particularly into the experiences of "failed" franchises and into the problems encountered by growing small firms who do not adopt franchising as a growth strategy.

Notes: The transition from centralised to market economy created a number of difficulties for Polish enterprises and many of them went bankrupt, especially after the Soviet market had been lost. While large companies, such as steelworks, coal mines, railways, etc, have been protected by the government for social reasons, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could survive only when they, by themselves or with some external assistance, were able to introduce internal changes and adjust to the market environment. Polish SMEs may be divided into two groups: emerging private firms and split firms which were created by a partition of large state-owned enterprises. The various reasons for failure are discussed for both groups and compared with those described in the literature. A general model of consultancy intervention is presented and the attitudes of Polish enterprises towards change are described. In general, the state-owned and split firms are reluctant to change unless their situation is critical, and if restructurisation is done it is rather superficial. Thus, a successful consultant has to be not only convincing and flexible but also must assess how deep a change is wanted by a given enterprise. This paper presents the approach used in helping the split firms by the University of Mining and Metallurgy (UMM), Faculty of Management Consulting Group. In order to find solutions for a given firm, a working team consisting of representatives of an enterprise and university was set up. The team devises a strategy of enterprise survival and prepares a detailed plan of the steps to be taken. This approach, which in many cases has proved to be successful, consists of trying to infuse the employees with the philosophy of enterprise survival and organising a series of relevant training activities. When the employees fully understand the essence of all the actions necessary for enterprise survival (privatisation, improvement of marketing, creation of systems of motivation, quality control, management information and other), the consulting group's role as "company doctor" is limited to the supervision of the change planning process and the assessment of the solutions chosen. This system of triggering employee initiative has been found to be not only effective but also cheap, an aspect which in the case of small enterprises should not be underestimated.

Notes: Large owner-users of real estate increasingly search for methods to streamline their operations and reduce expenses without decreasing services to building occupants. This paper describes a model successfully adopted by a variety of corporations to accomplish these objectives. Key to achieving these results is the establishing of Standard Service Agreements between occupants and service providers and the 'bundling' of similar services under a unified management umbrella.

Notes: Many organisations have increased collaborative performance by introducing new technologies and new processes; by integrating these with innovations in the working environment they can catalyse additional and sustained improvements in collaborative performance. If planned, designed and managed as an integrated system encompassing people, process and place issues, the workplace environment can be a powerful catalyst for business change.

Notes: Even the most experienced and hardened negotiators tend to 'lighten up' when they step onto foreign soil. Current global conditions, however, allow for a systematic, diligent and professional approach to lease and purchase negotiations. This paper encourages corporate real estate professionals to do the right thing - wherever they may be.

Notes: The proportion of real estate in a non-property company's asset portfolio has increased to anextent where it has become an asset capable of enhancing corporate wealth. This initial study hopes to establish the foundation and provide background information on corporate real estate holding profiles of listed Singapore businessfirms. Using financial statement data and firm market values from 1987 to 1996, this paper provides an analysis of real estate holdings in both absolute and relative terms. Real estate holdings by business segment and asset subtype,growth in corporate real estate holdings over time; and key financial characteristics of corporate real estate (eg real estate as a percentage of shareholders' equity and real estate relative to market value of the firm) are included in the paper.

Notes: The cost of occupying and utilising a real estate asset, whether leased or owned, if an important element of controlling corporate resources. Yet, the focus of corporate real estate departments is often in the areas of acquisitions, dispositions and facilities rather than cost control. This paper takes the reader through the methods of identifying and controlling costs as the transaction progresses through the real estate life cycle.

Notes: Presents the main findings of an internal and generic benchmarking exercise on the engineer availability process. This process seeks to predict customer demand in terms of the incoming call rate and match this against the available supply of engineering resources. Describes how the internal benchmarking revealed considerable differences in the way in which the different internal business units managed their engineer availability process. Explains that the main reason for the difference was in the clustering of self-managing work groups of engineers. Also points out that there are three main elements involved in ensuring the success of an engineer availability process: an accurate forecast of customer demand; a method of operating which yields an effective revision of supply to fit customer demand; and a high support environment.

Notes: States that manufacturing competence in organizations is determined by the competitive priorities of those organizations and the key operating decisions which they make to achieve those competitive priorities. Sets out to investigate whether manufacturing strategy can be applied to an industry which is not traditionally thought of as manufacturing by determining the industry's competitive priorities and key decision areas and the relationship between them. Finds that there was a set of competitive priorities and key decision areas which apply to the Australian wine industry and that the most important key decision areas (plant capacity, quality assurance, plant and equipment, production planning and control, product design and top management involvement) were similar to those which apply to many other manufacturing industries.

Notes: Explains why many companies are surprised, both positively and negatively, by the results they have obtained in benchmarking. Illustrates that the best practice for a particular system is unique to a company at a given point in time in its development of culture and strategy.

Notes: This paper presents findings from a major research study investigating management training and development (MTD) activity within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the East Midlands. Despite the fact that the academic evidence linking training and development with business performance remains inconclusive, the previous UK Government clearly signalled the importance of improving skills levels to promote business success. The Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) are charged with a key role in stimulating MTD activity within SMEs, a sector where MTD has traditionally been given a low priority. The system of government-backed support for SMEs is currently under review, and the continued existence of the TECs in their present form largely depends upon their ability to provide proactive, tailored solutions to local business needs. It is, therefore, an extremely opportune time to review the TECs' performance. Based on detailed analysis of the activities of six TECs in the East Midlands, the paper examines how they define MTD, establish the MTD needs of SMEs within their respective catchment areas, and formulate appropriate strategies to meet those needs. The reasons why generic MTD products are not generally taken up by SMEs are explored; supply-side obstacles hinder the promotion of generic products by the TECs and demand is constrained as owner-managers are reluctant to adopt such initiatives, although the boundaries between these two sets of factors are blurred. After reviewing the ways in which the TECs evaluate their activities, the paper concludes by offering some recommendations as to how the TECs could increase the take-up of MTD by SMEs and improve the targeting of SMEs for assistance.

Notes: The quality framework necessary to achieve compliance with the ISO 9000 series of standards is to say the least abstract. It is this very generality which allows ISO 9000 to play the role of the universal quality standard. Aims to help practitioners relate their software process to this framework. Discusses the rationale for, as well as ideas and examples of, software and information system development practices that fit the requirement of ISO 9001 standard and ISO 9000-3 accompanying the guidelines. Reviews related approaches to software process improvement, defines generic requirements for a quality software process and a template for the context of a software quality improvement programme as a software quality manual.

Notes: Two case studies in health and safety management identified key performance indicators that reflected a company's overall performance obtained from a full benchmarking audit. An intra-company benchmarking audit, comparing operational health and safety management performance was completed within 12 semi-autonomous subsidiaries of a large national food manufacturer. A significant (r = 0.985) positive relationship was obtained between ten operational performance indicators and overall performance. The key factors were found to have a common theme relating to employer-employee openness in communication on health and safety issues. An inter-company benchmarking audit comparing strategic health and safety management performance was completed within eight companies in the small, multi-site retail sector. A significant (r = 0.988) positive relationship was obtained between ten strategic performance indicators and overall performance. The key factors did not have a common theme but there was evidence that integration of health and safety management into long-term business decision making was a strong factor.

Notes: Presents the results of a survey of how innovation is managed by French small and medium-sized enterprises. Focuses on drivers for change, actions to improve short- and long- term profitability, sources of innovation, and the relationship between different managerial orientations in the companies and the dynamics of innovation. The results show that a strong customer orientation - together with a true partnership with main customers - and continuous improvement of the company's internal processes are key factors both for successful R&D and improvement of performance.

Notes: Investigates the link between benchmarking and operational performance using a sample of over 600 European manufacturing sites. Benchmarking is linked to the identification and adoption of improved operational practices, an increased understanding of competitive positioning, and the larger context of the "learning organization". Shows that benchmarking may indeed contribute to improved operational performance, first through improving the firm's understanding of its competitive position and its strengths and weaknesses, and second through providing a systematic process for effecting change. Learning organizations were more likely to benchmark than other firms.

Notes: Investigates functional strategies aimed at developing competitive advantage in terms of both their perceived importance by management and their actual impact on organizational performance in Australian manufacturing companies. Considers factors such as productivity, research and development and human resources. Results of research include the finding that productivity strategies are preferred by Australian manufacturers and will continue to be so over the next few years, along with human resources strategies. Notes that a mix of functional strategies was seen as beneficial for performance. Concludes that TQM is an appropriate strategy for enhancement of competitiveness given the need for an holistic approach.

Notes: States that more firms are locating operations in Australia to serve the domestic market and as a base for entering other Asian markets. Many of these firms will outsource at least part of their logistics function and this is a growing trend throughout the world. Describes how a mail survey of the major operating units at the largest firms in Australia was conducted to determine the current extent of logistics outsourcing in Australia. Provides the results from this survey together with responses from earlier studies on the usage of contract logistics services in the USA and Western Europe for comparative purposes.

Notes: Focuses on some of the ethical concerns pertinent to the application process of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award programme and highlights some of the critical problems which the programme faces. Based on analysis of these issues, endeavours to distil an adequate opinion of the inherent value, merit and significance of Baldrige Award. Observes that, while the Baldrige Award programme does raise certain critical concerns - specifically those related to unfairness, superficiality and publicity - the inherent value of the continuously improving award programme far outweighs its limitations. As has been seen, the Baldrige paradigm is not limited exclusively to the world of business, and can be applied to reinforce quality and enhance productivity in virtually any kind of organization.

Notes: Based on an extensive review of literature on total quality management (TQM) in higher education, proposes a specific definition of "customer" and develops a comprehensive TQM model that comprises eight steps. The definition of "customer" and the TQM model developed can serve as a basic foundation for colleges and universities to follow when implementing TQM at their respective institutions. Recommends a list of things to do and problems to look for when implementing a TQM project.