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In an attempt to catch, and hopefully overtake, its competitors Lucas Industries plc has implemented modern production techniques in a major period of reorganisation. The relocation of one business to a greenfield site is discussed. Manufacturing methods adopted include modular layout, kanban/materials requirement planning production control, machine and process control, and statistical process control. Methods of instilling continuous improvement are also discussed illustrating how the competitive edge achieved can be maintained. These include measuring system evaluation, internal quality systems audit, modification control and cost of quality.

Editorial This special issue of Industrial Management & Data Systems is a huge departure from our usual journal/ monograph style. This is an additional issue to the year's volume — a bonus in fact.

This paper deals with total quality management (TQM) with an emphasis on developing suitable strategies for improving quality and productivity in manufacturing systems. In recent years, TQM has been seen as an important strategy for achieving success in business both in terms of quality and productivity. However, there seem to be no clear strategic framework and guide‐lines for implementing TQM in manufacturing in the light of available advanced production concepts and technologies. A review of previous implementation approaches of TQM in practice has been presented in order to gain further insights into the implementation aspects of TQM. The main objective of this paper is to present a general framework for the development of TQM in manufacturing organizations considering the recent developments in production concepts and technologies and competitiveness among firms to utilize quality as a competitive weapon.

As our correspondent on another page suggests, the economic crisis may have reactions upon libraries. The most obvious one he mentions is the increased difficulty we shall experience in obtaining American books. Not all libraries, public or private, make any special collection of books published in the United States, although there has been an increasing tendency to buy more as the relations of the two countries have grown closer through their common struggle; in fact, we know libraries which have spent many hundreds of pounds in the course of the past year or two on the select lists of books which have been made for us by American librarians. It is most unfortunate that the manipulation of dollar currency should have brought about a situation in which even the exchange of ideas between the countries becomes more difficult. One suggestion might be made and that is that our American colleagues should continue to sift the literature of this time of famine for us, so that further select lists may be available in better days.

This article follows on an investigation conducted by the Unit for Library and Information Research of the Human Sciences Research Council in 1981 for the Department of National Education. The article is limited to a consideration of the aim and functions of national library services. Matters such as the organisation and management of these services, the pros and cons of centralisation and decentralisation in particular circumstances, bringing services into line with modern demands, problem areas in existing services, the raison d'être of national library and information advisory councils alongside the management councils of national library services, legislation of these services, etc. have been excluded from the discussion.

The use of an ICT 1905 computer for the mechanization of library procedures at The City University was considered as part of the library reorganization prior to the acquisition of University status. In view of the smallness of the library staff and the pressure of work it seemed essential to select an area which would quickly lead to relieving staff of tedious routine work, and at the same time provide useful training in computer applications. There seemed no point in attempting to duplicate exercises which were being currently tackled by larger libraries e.g. cataloguing, and the volume of loans hardly justified mechanization of circulation records at the present time.

The extent to which current relationships with extended kin affect the likelihood that adult family members experience negative life events – such as serious psychological problems, financial difficulties, addictions, or criminal behavior – has received little attention in life course research, which typically focuses on the occurrence and timing of “normal” life events – that is, events occurring in almost every life course (e.g., marriage, parenthood, educational enrollment, employment).

This study used prospective data from a nationally representative panel study on Dutch families. A series of clustered logistic regression models were estimated for the separate types of negative events, while a post-estimation command was used to compare and combine effects across models.

We show that the likelihood to experience negative life events is indeed affected by the relationships one currently has with extended kin. Moreover, by distinguishing different characteristics of family relationships in our analyses, we were able to unravel the mechanisms through which they exert an influence. Current family relationships provide feelings of integration, a sense of meaning, and act as a source of support that can be mobilized if needed.

Given the impact negative life events have on individuals and families, as well as the costs they impose upon society, our results look promising for further advancing our understanding of the risks and the protective factors affecting the development of negative events in the lives of adults.

Most existing product innovation‐decision models view decision making from a very cognitive perspective in that they presume that decision to adopt a new product is preceded by steps that parallel product information procurement and evaluation. Argues that such an approach is unnecessarily limiting given that a substantial proportion of individuals do not base their decisions on attribute processing, even for relatively complex products. Critically evaluates two of the most widely cited adoption models and based on this analysis proposes a more holistic model that incorporates real world decision factors, and presents its managerial implications.

THE article which we publish from the pen of Mr. L. Stanley Jast is the first of many which we hope will come from his pen, now that he has release from regular library duties. Anything that Mr. Jast has to say is said with originality even if the subject is not original; his quality has always been to give an independent and novel twist to almost everything he touches. We think our readers will find this to be so when he touches the important question of “The Library and Leisure.”

Perhaps the first whisper of the British Library(hereinafter BL) may be found in the report of the Parry Committee which recommended the formation of a national policy in regard to libraries and the provision of information. This was swiftly followed by the Dainton Committee report, a White Paper, and finally the British Library Act, which came into force on 1 July 1973 when the Board of the new BL formally took over responsibility for the library departments (excepting Prints and Drawings) and the Science Reference Library from the Trustees of the British Museum, plus the National Lending Library for Science and Technology and the former National Central Library. To this weighty nucleus were added the major responsibilities of the former Office of Scientific and Technical Information, in April 1974, forming the basis of a new Research and Development Department, and the British National Bibliography, in August 1974, as the foundation of the new Bibliographic Services Division. The way for this very considerable re‐shaping of the country's library resources had been thoroughly prepared by a body familiarly known as BLOC (British Library Organizing Committee) between January and July 1973. There are a number of accounts of the creation of the new library which do not differ in substance. Later developments can be studied from the series of annual reports which provide the most authoritative data available, although it should be noted that statistics provided are not always compatible from year to year.