Trevor Hassall, Alex Dunlop and Sarah Lewis
Examines the nature of professional competence, using the field of Internal Audit as an exemplar. Attempts to describe the professionalization process and thus the context in…
Abstract
Examines the nature of professional competence, using the field of Internal Audit as an exemplar. Attempts to describe the professionalization process and thus the context in which the concept is normally encountered. Reviews the nature and influence of pressures for change currently affecting the Internal Audit profession. Examines the differing approaches to the definition and interpretation of professional competence, including the consideration of the factors which underpin it and the role therein played by knowledge. Considers current UK and US proposals and developments in Internal Auditor education in the light of conclusions drawn from the preceding sections. Concludes that it is likely that a major influential role will be played by current developments in NVQ methodology and that, at least in the short term, a case study approach to teaching and assessment would be beneficial. It further posits that there will be, in all probability, a major role to be played in the future by formally structured workplace based competence led assessment.
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Mr Alex Harlcy Reeves, a scientist of Standard Tele‐Communication Laboratories Ltd., has been awarded the Stuart Ballantinc Medal of the Franklin Institute for his communications…
Abstract
Mr Alex Harlcy Reeves, a scientist of Standard Tele‐Communication Laboratories Ltd., has been awarded the Stuart Ballantinc Medal of the Franklin Institute for his communications invention, Pulse Code Modulation. P.C.M. was recently used to transmit television pictures from Mars to Earth.
The Council of the Institution has announced that Mr K. H. Platt, C.B.E., C.Eng., F.I.Mech.E., will be retiring as Secretary of the Institution in the autumn of 1976, and that…
Abstract
The Council of the Institution has announced that Mr K. H. Platt, C.B.E., C.Eng., F.I.Mech.E., will be retiring as Secretary of the Institution in the autumn of 1976, and that they have appointed Mr Alex McKay, C.B., C.Eng., F.I. Mech.E., F.I.E.E., as Secretary.
Hypertac Ltd have developed an impressive 2100‐way backplane which they regard as a significant development in high density connectors.
Chris F. Wright, Alex J. Wood, Jonathan Trevor, Colm McLaughlin, Wei Huang, Brian Harney, Torsten Geelan, Barry Colfer, Cheng Chang and William Brown
The purpose of this paper is to review “institutional experimentation” for protecting workers in response to the contraction of the standard employment relationship and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review “institutional experimentation” for protecting workers in response to the contraction of the standard employment relationship and the corresponding rise of “non-standard” forms of paid work.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on the existing research and knowledge base of the authors as well as a thorough review of the extant literature relating to: non-standard employment contracts; sources of labour supply engaging in non-standard work; exogenous pressures on the employment relationship; intermediaries that separate the management from the control of labour; and entities that subvert the employment relationship.
Findings
Post-war industrial relations scholars characterised the traditional regulatory model of collective bargaining and the standard employment contract as a “web of rules”. As work relations have become more market mediated, new institutional arrangements have developed to govern these relations and regulate the terms of engagement. The paper argues that these are indicative of an emergent “patchwork of rules” which are instructive for scholars, policymakers, workers’ representatives and employers seeking solutions to the contraction of the traditional regulatory model.
Research limitations/implications
While the review of the institutional experimentation is potentially instructive for developing solutions to gaps in labour regulation, a drawback of this approach is that there are limits to the realisation of policy transfer. Some of the initiatives discussed in the paper may be more effective than others for protecting workers on non-standard contracts, but further research is necessary to test their effectiveness including in different contexts.
Social implications
The findings indicate that a task ahead for the representatives of government, labour and business is to determine how to adapt the emergent patchwork of rules to protect workers from the new vulnerabilities created by, for example, employer extraction and exploitation of their individual bio data, social media data and, not far off, their personal genome sequence.
Originality/value
The paper addresses calls to examine the “institutional intersections” that have informed the changing ways that work is conducted and regulated. These intersections transcend international, national, sectoral and local units of analysis, as well as supply chains, fissured organisational dynamics, intermediaries and online platforms. The analysis also encompasses the broad range of stakeholders including businesses, labour and community groups, nongovernmental organisations and online communities that have influenced changing institutional approaches to employment protection.
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It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields…
Abstract
It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields but who have a common interest in the means by which information may be collected and disseminated to the greatest advantage. Lists of its members have, therefore, a more than ordinary value since they present, in miniature, a cross‐section of institutions and individuals who share this special interest.
The purpose of this paper is to propose a general micro-theoretical framework that helps to understand the embeddedness of trade unions within the European system of industrial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a general micro-theoretical framework that helps to understand the embeddedness of trade unions within the European system of industrial relations, and the consequences of this embeddedness for industrial relations outcomes. First, starting from the paradoxical observation of a trend towards homogeneity within a complex, multi-layered European industrial relations system consisting of heterogeneous and autonomous agents, the paper aims to explicate the mechanisms which produce these similarities. Second, the paper seeks to analyse potential mechanisms for transnational trade union cooperation and, third, it concludes by outlining its applicability as the basis for methodological approaches which enable realistic and policy relevant analyses.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is conceptual and focusses on the development of a general micro-theoretical framework which captures European industrial relations actors’ behaviour and outcomes. It integrates theoretical and empirical accounts from differing social science disciplines and from various methodological starting points on trade union action and interaction into one general micro-theoretical framework.
Findings
Starting from a typology of trade union goals, the authors show how various social mechanisms lead to interdependencies between trade unions and review empirical evidence for their consequences. The authors, then, identify a set of motives for transnational cooperation that would allow outcomes that are in line with trade union objectives.
Originality/value
Against the background that previous studies on trade union action and cross-national interaction have paid less attention to the puzzling stylised fact that industrial relations outcomes are mimicked by heterogeneous and autonomous agents actors in different countries, the authors address this research gap by developing a novel general micro-theoretical framework for the analysis of transnational trade union action and interaction in order to better understand the underlying causal mechanisms for the common behaviour and outcomes of autonomous actors.
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THE following list of contracts placed by the Air Ministry during January is extracted from the February issue of The Ministry of Labour Gazette:—
Many companies want to change the direction of their computing, but maintaining the old service, whilst introducing a new system, can be a very delicate operation.
Abstract
Many companies want to change the direction of their computing, but maintaining the old service, whilst introducing a new system, can be a very delicate operation.
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Flight tests with the Boeing 747‐300 are proving that the new extended upper deck jetliner matches or betters performance shown in the original specifications. With more than 150…
Abstract
Flight tests with the Boeing 747‐300 are proving that the new extended upper deck jetliner matches or betters performance shown in the original specifications. With more than 150 hours flown by the initial airplane in the series — a “combi” model for Swissair—tests show that the most efficient high speed cruise is Mach .85 to .86. This compares with .85 for the 747SP which has had a highest cruise speed of any subsonic transport flying.