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The second of two articles, reports the findings of a qualitative research project investigating good practice in recruiting, training and retaining new graduates. The research took place in 15 UK public‐ and private‐sector organizations including the NHS in Scotland, KPMG Peat Marwick, GKN, Sema and Girobank. Examines how to get the most from the opportunity for intensive development. Develops ideas on how employers can successfully and quickly develop new graduates into effective business people, adding value to the organization and its customers. Focuses on the important role of the direct manager in coaching and bringing the new graduate up to speed. Also highlights how the group of new graduates can be used to build a supportive peer group and a network of contacts across the organization to help get things done.

The first of two articles reporting the findings of a qualitative research project investigating good practice in recruiting, training and retaining new graduates. The research took place in 15 UK public and private sector organizations including the NHS in Scotland, KPMG Peak Marwick, GKN, Sema and Girobank. Highlights the key issues involved in the transition from academia to working life. The first few days and months of a job can make a lasting impact on a graduate′s perception of the organization and their commitment to it. It is crucial for both graduate and organization to make a good start to their relationship, to live up to the messages communicated in the recruitment process. Highlights examples gained from a wide variety of organizations.

Here Marx's philosophy is dissected from the angle of bourgeois capitalism which he, Marx, sought to overcome. His social, political and economic ideas are criticised. Although it is noted that Marx wanted to ameliorate human suffering, the result turned out to be Utopian, contrary to his own intentions. Contrary to Marx, it is individualism that makes the best sense and capitalism that holds out the best hope for coping with most of the problems he sought to solve. Marx's philosophy is alluring but flawed at a very basic level, namely, where it denies the individuality of each person and treats humanity as “an organic body”. Capitalism, while by no means out to guarantee a perfect society, is the best setting for the realisation of the diverse but often equally noble human goals of its membership.

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel mnemonic, ACTIVE, inspired by Mason's 1985 PAPA mnemonic, which will help researchers and IT professionals develop an understanding of the major issues in information ethics.

Theoretical foundations are developed for each element of the mnemonic by reference to philosophical definitions of the terms used and to virtue ethics, particularly MacIntyrean virtue ethics. The paper starts with a critique of the elements of the PAPA mnemonic and then proceeds to develop an understanding of each of the elements of ACTIVE ethics, via a discussion of the underpinning virtue ethics.

This paper identifies six issues, described by the mnemonic, ACTIVE. ACTIVE stands for: autonomy, the ability of the individual to manage their own information and make choice; community, the ethical effect of an information systems on the community which it supports; transparency, the extent to which the derivation of content and process in an information system is made clear; identity, the social and ethical effect of an information system on the definition and maintenance of the distinctive characteristics of a person; value, the value or moral worth placed on information associated with an individual and hence on the relationship with the individual; and empathy, the ability of the information systems professional to emotionally connect with the user and the extent to which the information system distances or connects.

The paper applies virtue ethics to developing a tool to help information professionals reflect on their ethical practice in developing and supporting information systems.