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Aspects of work undertaken at a large sheet metal‐manufacturing facility are examined. The adoption of a new strategy involved the creation of a cell layout together with new systems of control. It is shown that the proper choice and use of appropriate scheduling rules have a considerable effect on performance criteria. With adequate resources and retrieval of information from the MRP system, the use of structured rules enables the master production schedule to be revised to reflect changes in the anticipated demand and capacity.

The decision facing the CATs on obtaining University status was whether to continue with their sandwich style courses or to operate the full‐time degree course. How each made their decision is not the subject of this paper, but the author firmly believes that the operation of a sandwich degree course offers the best type of training for both the student and the employer. Indeed the feeling of scepticism with which the CATs were first met was changed to admiration within their lifetime, such that many employers prefer the diploma man to the full‐time degree man. For this reason many are sorry to see the CATs disappear, but I feel that if the new technological universities continue with their sandwich system they have an even larger part to play in the educational system than they did as CATs.

Although medical leadership and management (MLM) is increasingly being recognised as important to improving healthcare outcomes, little is understood about current training of medical students in MLM skills and behaviours in the UK. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This qualitative study used validated structured interviews with expert faculty members from medical schools across the UK to ascertain MLM framework integration, teaching methods employed, evaluation methods and barriers to improvement.

Data were collected from 25 of the 33 UK medical schools (76 per cent response rate), with 23/25 reporting that MLM content is included in their curriculum. More medical schools assessed MLM competencies on admission than at any other time of the curriculum. Only 12 schools had evaluated MLM teaching at the time of data collection. The majority of medical schools reported barriers, including overfilled curricula and reluctance of staff to teach. Whilst 88 per cent of schools planned to increase MLM content over the next two years, there was a lack of consensus on proposed teaching content and methods.

There is widespread inclusion of MLM in UK medical schools’ curricula, despite the existence of barriers. This study identified substantial heterogeneity in MLM teaching and assessment methods which does not meet students’ desired modes of delivery. Examples of national undergraduate MLM teaching exist worldwide, and lessons can be taken from these.

This is the first national evaluation of MLM in undergraduate medical school curricula in the UK, highlighting continuing challenges with executing MLM content despite numerous frameworks and international examples of successful execution.

Between October and November 2001 the world witnessed the collapse of Enron, a major US publicly traded corporation with global operations. The Enron case highlights the impact corporate failure has on American society and capital markets and underscores the need for better enforcement of regulations and ethical business behavior. This paper discusses the role played by Enron’s senior management, its board of directors, Enron’s auditors, consultants, bankers, Wall Street and the government, in the spectacular rise and fall of this corporate giant. It also examines the impact of Enron’s failure on its employees, the employees of Andersen, and on thousands of ordinary Americans who invested in the stock via their pensions and mutual funds. This paper highlights the conflicts of interest that pervade the financial system and discusses the social and financial impact of a combined business and oversight failure. Students and teachers of finance, corporate governance, and business strategy may be interested in this paper as a pedagogical tool to teach undergraduate finance, business ethics, business strategy, and corporate governance.

An optical roughness sensor is described that is ideally suited for integration with a co‐ordinate measuring machine (CMM). The CMM provides an extremely stable platform for moving the sensor head over the surface specimen. The sensor consists of a fibre optic head, data processing electronics and software for controlling the sensor and calculating surface texture parameters from the sensor’s data. The software controls the data acquisition process, filters the data to remove sensor noise and calculates basic amplitude parameters that describe the texture profile of the surface. Tests have been conducted on surfaces and the results compared with stylus profilometer measurements on the same surface regions. Comparison of the amplitude parameter, R_a, shows differences of between 3 percent and 8 percent across the sample set for profiles in the 0.4 μm R_a range.

Based on an empirical study of 184 Swedish manufacturers. Provides an operationalization of manufacturing strategy. Bases the definition of a manufacturing strategy on the competitive means which the business units emphasize to compete on the market, and the nature of manufacturing objectives. Formulates and tests hypotheses within areas of manufacturing strategy that have been identified as missing themes in the literature. Shows that companies that have a manufacturing strategy are significantly more profitable than those without one. They are also significantly better in competing with dependable deliveries. Argues that companies with a manufacturing strategy, regardless of the direction of the strategy, have identified quality programmes and other preventive actions as being fundamental issues in manufacturing. Thus gives support to the research that suggests that competitive priorities should be sequentially applied in manufacturing.

This paper aims to investigate older consumers' perceptions of the effects of direct‐to‐consumer advertising (DTCA), their views on the amount and type of information that should be provided, and their understanding of information typically contained.

Participants were 97 adult members of a social/education group, aged 55 to 87, who completed a questionnaire during the group's usual weekly meeting. There were four versions of the questionnaire; two types of medication (arthritis versus diabetes) and two ad formats (short versus long).

There was little difference between the versions in the accuracy of participants' recall of key pieces of information, suggesting that providing additional information may convey little additional benefit. Participants reported limited perceived benefits of DTCA, and expressed concern that DTCA may cause people to ask their doctor for inappropriate medicines, rely more on medicines to solve their health, and become more confused.

This study suggests that there is a need to consider consumers' perceptions of benefits and costs of DTCA when deciding whether to introduce it (e.g. in Australia) or remove it (e.g. New Zealand). Further, at least for older consumers, providing large quantities of information may increase cognitive demands without producing additional benefits.

The majority of previous studies of DTCA have used either student samples (with manipulated salience of information) or general population surveys. This study utilised a sample of older adults, including 55 per cent with arthritis and 13 per cent with diabetes. Further, as this study used US ads with an Australian population, one can be confident that participants' knowledge of the medications was purely from the ads read and not from previous exposure.

Compares and contrasts the organizational routines and outcomes of businesses that are managed using practices grounded in batch‐and‐queue and lean production. The former is shown to be poor at providing senior management with timely and accurate information, thus obscuring or altering business realities, while the latter results in greater clarity and improved responsiveness to changing market conditions. It proposes that the primary work of the investment analyst should change to “muda analyst”, whose focus is the elimination of waste in business processes between internal and external stakeholders, while the traditional work of investment analysts is positioned as a secondary activity. Identifies different types of questions to ask senior management in order to assess the underlying business and leadership practices.