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The Engineering Industry Training Board recently, completed an intensive study on employee relations training for managers. Whilst the main emphasis was on the needs of line managers in the day‐to‐day management of relationships at work, a frequently occurring element in the analysis was the impact of the increased role of the ER specialist. This article summarises the main conclusions of the EITB study, and highlights the implications for ER specialists.

The Engineering Industry Training Board has just completed a two‐year study on employee relations training for managers. The six‐man project team which undertook the study was composed of industrial relations and personnel specialists and trainers. The team carried out investigations in over three hundred companies, a number of special studies and a survey of the current provision of employee relations training. Their final Report, which contains recommendations on the analysis of employee relations, the development of training materials and the training of trainers, has been accepted as a basis for action by the EITB. This is the first in a series of articles, setting out the findings, conclusions and some of the ideas for new initiatives in this area.

The previous two articles identified some of the critical factors behind employee relations problems and described a new approach developed by the EITB to increase managers' awareness of these factors. However, there are those who regard any ‘packaged’ approach as superficial and who would maintain that the only valid approach is through conducting their own analysis of their employee relations and developing entirely home‐grown remedies. This article, therefore, brings together some of the lessons learnt about the analysis of employee relations and the identification of managers' ER training needs during the two‐year study.

The first article described how the EITB employee relations training for managers project was undertaken and some of the conclusions which were reached. One of the key conclusions was that more emphasis should be given to in‐company training. This second article describes material which is being specifically designed to provide a framework for such training — EMPLOYEE RELATIONS LEARNING RESOURCE MATERIAL (ERLRM). This is illustrated by reference to the ERLRM module entitled ‘Discipline at Work’.

The objective of the first article in this series, which covered the key findings of the EITB's two year study on employee relations training for managers, was to set out a basic agenda for the eighties. The two subsequent articles dealt with specific approaches and products arising from those findings which are now part of the EITB's programme of action in this field. In this, the final article, we discuss other issues arising from special studies undertaken during the course of the project and the implications these have for the future development of ER training ideas and materials.

There is a tendency in every sector to argue that its culture and leadership issues are unique, and that concepts and processes for leadership development do not travel well across sector boundaries. Higher education (HE) is well known for adopting this point of view. Drawing from the author's own experience of working in many parts of the private, public and third sectors, the purpose of this paper is to unpack that paradox and suggest some important lessons and practices that can survive the transition across these boundaries.

The examples of such practices are drawn from the worlds of broadcasting, the arts, education, local and central government. They include embracing the “tight/loose” tension conceived by Charles Handy, the conceptualisation of the customer experience in a way that can engage HE staff and the vital contribution that universities can make to the “leadership of place”.

The author has found three general concepts of leadership, which seem particularly relevant to the challenges facing UK HE today. Agility – the ability to embrace new business models, new organisational relationships and new technological opportunities whilst holding on to the core purpose of HE. Distinctiveness – seeking through institutional dialogue a shared understanding of difference, either as a single institution or as part of a unique cluster of universities. Alignment – finding the optimal meeting point between top‐down institutional goals and the traditional bottom‐up collegial culture.

This paper provides an opportunity to reflect on development programmes run by the Leadership Foundation, and to test them against the wider context of public service leadership development.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the strategic integration of HRM practices with business/corporate strategy in the context of its applications and processes in two Japanese multinational companies in Malaysia.

The research used mixed‐methodology via case studies and questionnaire surveys. Overall 29 questionnaires, 15 from Company A and 14 from Company B were returned and analyzed for a response rate of 58 per cent. In addition, 15 respondents were interviewed, including Executive Director, Head of HR and line managers.

Analysis of questionnaire responses and interview findings shows strategic integration of HRM practices has been adopted by both organizations, though their approaches vary slightly. Importantly, the involvement of HR at board level, direct reporting of HR to the CEOs and the organization's supportive culture symbolize the integrative approach to HRM. Additionally, the findings indicate that although company strategies are in place, other factors such as business credibility of the HR manager and the level of commitment and support from CEOs and line management commitment are important determinants of strategic integration of HRM practices.

The influence of Japanese management practices which has similar characteristics of high performance work system (HPWS) and resource‐based view (RBV) approach that emphasizes participatory decision making and construe employees and HR function not as cost burdens but as sources of competitive advantage are important predictors of higher and effective strategic integration.

The paper provides some insights into approaches to strategic integration of HRM practices in two Japanese multinational companies in Malaysia.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a Forum for HRD initiative to proactively engage with HRD practitioners to develop “new commons” in the research‐practice nexus. Researchers joined a community of UK university HRD practitioners, negotiated a research project mapping the terrain of HRD practice, explored how research informed these are and identified future practice relevant HRD research.

The research process is described as grounded in relationship building and collaboration. Researchers utilized qualitative research methods to develop small‐scale empirical research and explore HRD practice in four case study universities and the UK Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

Findings are presented in the following themes: organizational approaches to HRD; underpinning philosophies and interventions as research informed and contracting and evaluating external providers and identifies opportunities to develop new commons between theory and practice via collaborative partnerships between the Forum for HRD and UK university HRD practitioners.

Future empirical research which is practice relevant is necessary in the area of evaluation of non‐accredited HRD interventions, the challenges of developing leadership and management in UK HE and the HRD research‐practice nexus.

The paper has valuable implications for bridging the space between HRD research and practice; it surfaces the practitioners' “lack of voice” within the profession and field of HRD and the lack of opportunities for the development of individual HRD practitioners.

The link between practice and theory within universities should be more developed, as HRD academics, a theoretical resource, are also “clients” of a University's HRD approach in practice. The research highlights how the reverse is the case, with the link between theory and practice under developed.