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The purpose of this article is to discuss the application of socio‐technical design concepts and methods to office settings. Certain translations and modifications for offices are necessary in order to use socio‐technical methods, originally developed for use in factory settings. We will briefly review the socio‐technical systems history and approach, discuss design concepts and principles, describe two office cases, and identify important consulting issues for managers and implementors of office technology.

Riding on the coattails of TQM and reeengineering, teams seem to have become the organizational structure of choice. But is a team always the best choice for the job? What happens when teams fail? What is management's role in team success or failure?

Many companies are restructuring key business processes to break down barriers between departments. Underlying these efforts is the belief that value is created through horizontal work flows ‐ flows which cut across traditional vertically organized functions and end at some point of contact with the customer. Central to this is the cross‐functional process team. While there is much evidence that teams can produce dramatic benefits (reductions in cost and cycle time, improvements in quality and accuracy, higher employee morale and lower absenteeism) it is in adopting these team structures that companies often find the greatest problems.

It is all too easy in the hectic world of business to get too involved with the day‐to‐day managing of processes and events. When this happens it is difficult to see the wood for the trees and the automatic pilot syndrome takes over. This does not suggest that you do not know what you are doing ‐ on the contrary you are probably as switched on to whatever activity you are managing as anyone could be. What you could be missing, however, is the explanation as to why you are doing it. If this sounds familiar to you, what might be needed is a detached period from your work. By this I mean stay on the high ground for a while so you can get an overview of what you are doing and, more importantly, why you are doing it. How many managers, I wonder, get the opportunity to question what they are doing? If you allow yourself to slip into complacency then you and your organization will soon lose competitive advantage.

This article discusses the total quality management (TQM) movement and then elaborates about W. Edwards Deming’s experiences and views. Finally, there is a comparison of total quality management and the Deming approach to quality management. The TQM movement was attractive to many organizations during the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s. To succeed, total quality management had many long‐term require‐ments. One of these was that top management must have a passion for the subject. Without this sustained passion top management’s attention and energy towards TQM would be diverted to other pressing needs. While Deming insisted that there was no “instant pudding”, many consultants in establishing themselves with a client suggested short‐term gains. Because of this search for short‐term gains, process improvement and reductions in cycle time became very popular and in some cases a final objective. Unfortunately, after they ran their short‐term course, many efforts collapsed and TQM was often declared a failure.

The purpose of this study sets out to examine (1) how have conflicts been conceptualized and operationalized within the context of online consumption communities? (2) what are the main conflict management, resolution strategies and frameworks that have been identified? and (3) what are the gaps in the relevant body of work in terms of theoretical and methodological dimensions, and what implications do they have for future research.

This study adopts a systematic and multidisciplinary literature review of online conflicts. Following a descriptive and thematic content analysis, it examines 79 peer-reviewed scholarly articles of the past 20 years within 6 scientific databases.

The authors propose a literature-based conceptualization of online conflicts and a multi-level conflict resolution matrix based on the different governance structures and social control mechanisms investigated in extant research.

The originality of this study lies in the integrative and interdisciplinary view of online conflict in global consumption communities.

The purpose of this paper is to examine gender differences in lifetime substance use and non-substance use (non-SUD) psychiatric disorders among illicit drug users and determine factors associated with non-SUD psychiatric disorders independently for males and for females.

Secondary analysis of five cross-sectional studies conducted in Barcelona, Spain during 2000-2006. Lifetime DSM-IV substance use and non-SUD psychiatric diagnoses were assessed using the Spanish Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental disorders (PRISM) among 629 people who use substances (68 per cent male) recruited from treatment (n=304) and out of treatment (n=325) settings. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using binary logistic regression.

The prevalence of any lifetime psychiatric (non-SUD) disorder was 41.8 per cent, with major depression (17 per cent) and antisocial personality disorder (17 per cent) being the most prevalent disorders. After adjusting for age and study, the odds of having any lifetime non-SUD (OR 2.10; 95%CI 1.48, 2.96); any mood disorder (OR 2.13; 95%CI 1.46, 3.11); any anxiety disorder (OR 1.86; 95%CI 1.19; 2.92); any eating disorder (OR 3.09; 95%CI 1.47, 6.47); or borderline personality disorder (OR 2.30; 95%CI 1.36, 3.84) were greater for females than males. Females were less likely than males to meet criteria for antisocial personality disorder (OR 0.59; 95%CI 0.36, 0.96) and attention deficit disorder (OR 0.37; 95%CI 0.17, 0.78).

Psychiatric disorders are common among people who use substances, with gender differences reported for specific disorders. Gender-sensitive integrated treatment approaches are required to prevent and to address comorbidity psychiatric disorders among this population.

This secondary analysis of five cross-sectional studies included a large sample size allowing sufficient power to examine the differences between men and women. An additional strength of the methodology is the use of the gold standard PRISM which was used to assess disorders.