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Examines the history of Clares Merchandise Handling Equipment Limited, the UK’s leading manufacturer of supermarket shopping trolleys and its long connection with robotic welding technology. Its first robot was installed in 1976 and it has recently installed the 25th robot at its Somerset factory. Describes the MIG welding operation that many of the robots are used for and concludes that it is the company’s intentions to invest in robots in the future.

The study presents the principal results of a survey into patient information needs and satisfaction levels in a large general hospital as part of a feasibility study on the provision of a patient information service. The background to the survey is the change in the patient/doctor relationship to one of consumer/supplier, coupled with the growing awareness of the importance of patient education and information as a form of preventive medicine. The survey found that information given prior to admission increased satisfaction rates for information provision generally, but also led to more questions being asked during the stay in hospital. Patients were given information freely, though there are slight gender differences, and there is a preference for verbal rather than written information from doctors. There are implications for patient information services. A range of patient resources is provided by wards, but there are problems of co‐ordination of supply and the human resources needed to manage them effectively.

Advancements in responsive manufacturing have been supporting companies over the last few decades. However, manufacturers now operate in a context of continuous uncertainty. This research paper explores a mechanism where companies can “elastically” provision and deprovision their production capacity, to enable them in coping with repeated disruptions. Such a mechanism is facilitated by the imitability and substitutability of production resources.

An inductive study was conducted using Gioia methodology for this theory generation research. Respondents from 20 UK manufacturing companies across multiple industrial sectors reflected on their experience during COVID-19. Resource-based view and resource dependence theory were employed to analyse the manufacturers' use of internal and external production resources.

The study identifies elastic responses at four operational levels: production-line, factory, company and supply chain. Elastic responses that imposed variable-costs were particularly well-suited for coping with unforeseen disruptions. Further, the imitability and substitutability of manufacturers helped others produce alternate goods during the crisis.

While uniqueness of production capability helps manufacturers sustain competitive advantage against competitors during stable operations, imitability and substitutability are beneficial during a crisis. Successful manufacturing companies need to combine these two approaches to respond effectively to repeated disruptions in a context of ongoing uncertainties. The theoretical contribution is in characterising responsive manufacturing in terms of resource heterogeneity and resource homogeneity, with elastic resourcing as the underlying mechanism.

In this pilot study, the authors analyzed student‐faculty course evaluations at their university using gap analysis as derived from the SERVQUAL (service quality) model. Utilizing matched sections of an undergraduate management course, data were collected from students at the beginning of a semester in a traditional course setting and in a distance learning course. At the end of the semester, data were again collected from these same students. The purpose was to assess the differences between student expectations going into these courses at the beginning of the term and their final perceptions of these courses at the conclusion of the semester. The authors found that “gaps” do exist on various dimensions between expectations and perceptions in both distance learning and traditional course delivery. An ongoing longitudinal study, using the pilot study methodology, will provide conclusive findings.

This chapter will present an analysis of mobilisation, framing processes and outcomes of environmental conservation campaigns in Ireland. By locating contemporary disputes about the public space in Ireland within an understanding of this transition from a traditional rural and agrarian society into that of a modern industrialised and urbanised European state, a wider understanding of the circumstances surrounding such contests emerges.¹ This form of analysis goes beyond a social narrative, and facilitates a fuller understanding of the consequences emanating from the framing and reframing of heritage within a context of a society where an obsession with history has been displaced by a zealous predilection for economic development.

The Corporation of the City of London are about to appoint a Public Analyst, and by advertisement have invited applications for the post. It is obviously desirable that the person appointed to this office should not only possess the usual professional qualifications, but that he should be a scientific man of high standing and of good repute, whose name would afford a guarantee of thoroughness and reliability in regard to the work entrusted to him, and whose opinion would carry weight and command respect. Far from being of a nature to attract a man of this stamp, the terms and conditions attaching to the office as set forth in the advertisement above referred to are such that no self‐respecting member of the analytical profession, and most certainly no leading member of it, could possibly accept them. It is simply pitiable that the Corporation of the City of London should offer terms, and make conditions in connection with them, which no scientific analyst could agree to without disgracing himself and degrading his profession. The offer of such terms, in fact, amounts to a gross insult to the whole body of members of that profession, and is excusable only—if excusable at all—on the score of utter ignorance as to the character of the work required to be done, and as to the nature of the qualifications and attainments of the scientific experts who are called upon to do it. In the analytical profession, as in every other profession, there are men who, under the pressure of necessity, are compelled to accept almost any remuneration that they can get, and several of these poorer, and therefore weaker, brethren will, of course, become candidates for the City appointment.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

This paper describes a dispersed service operated by Age Concern Leominster in North Herefordshire. The service uses local facilities to offer day‐care services to older people living in isolated rural communities. Discussion focuses on the challenges facing a service provider in developing and maintaining a localised service across a diverse range of communities, and presents a series of essential strategies for success.