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Organisational performance requires robust performance management, with the leadership skills and behaviours to bring the process to life. This paper seeks to address the challenge of how HR can get an understanding of the associated shift required within organisations.

The paper outlines the key elements of the transformation required to embed a performance management culture. The term performance management is used to describe the practice of managing performance, including the associated processes, systems, skills and leadership behaviours. To implement performance management successfully, HR needs to gain an understanding of how things are now (the current state); the vision of what is possible (the desired state); and the practical steps that can be taken (the shift).

In an increasingly complex environment there are a greater number of factors that impact the success of key HR practices such as performance management. HR needs to collect powerful data to ensure that it can understand which of the factors have an influence on how transformations can be undertaken, and practices, such as performance management, embedded.

HR can play a strategic role in transforming an organisation. The value for HR is in linking together the various insights these data can provide to understand causal links, and then translating all of this into a change strategy that is aligned to the organisation's vision and strategy. HR can use data to build a compelling case for change and the need for a performance management system, process and practice that are focused on delivering the organisational strategy.

This chapter presents research to assess the impact of the recent financial crisis on technology-based small firms (TBSFs) in the United Kingdom based on findings from an extended telephone survey with the owner-managers of 49 young and 51 more mature TBSFs, undertaken in 2010. Even before the onset of the global financial crisis in 2007, it was generally acknowledged that TBSFs faced greater obstacles in accessing finance than conventional SMEs. This is because banks have difficulty assessing the viability of new technology-based business ventures due to information asymmetries, whilst risk capital providers may have difficulty providing appropriate or sufficient funds on terms acceptable to entrepreneurs. Given the recent difficulties that SMEs, in general, have faced in obtaining external finance, we would expect TBSFs to have been particularly adversely affected by the financial crisis. Our evidence showed that TBSFs exhibited a strong demand for external finance between 2007 and 2010, related to their growth ambitions and achievements. They sought finance mainly from banks but also with younger TBSFs seeking business angel finance and more mature TBSFs seeking venture capital finance. However, our evidence indicates that both debt and equity finance became harder to access for TBSFs, particularly for early-stage and more R&D-intensive firms. Where funding was offered, it was often on unacceptable terms with regards to the levels of collateral or equity required. The chapter provides evidence of a growing funding gap and concludes that the ability of TBSFs to contribute to economic recovery is hampered by ongoing problems in obtaining external finance.

Considers the reasons under which contracts can be terminated under the “at will” clause and discusses the misuse of this term leading to wrongful termination. Looks at the different rights in law of some institutions that operate as “religious entities”. Outlines the principles of wrongful termination and academic tenure, providing case law history. Concludes that there are areas where wrongful dismissal is difficult to prove under present guidelines.

Conference report

This paper reports on the Maker and Maker Faire events in September at New York City.

The findings include the authors’ impressions of the meetings.

Original impressions of the conferences.

Discusses the foundation of Leeds Library in 1768 (which was a time of expansion in the wider world) and its founders. Describes the subsequent history and growth of the library, and of its librarians. Briefly indicates the present healthy state of the library which it attributes to the position of the library in the centre of Leeds and the will of the proprietors for it to survive.

Protected areas, lands and seas set aside for nature conservation, are the main tool for governments to conserve biodiversity. The complexity of government processes, however, can lead to fragmentation in protected area systems. Institutional fragmentation can preclude central coordination and undermine funding and performance. Here, we examine the impact of institutional fragmentation on budgets for protected area agencies in the United States, an important actor in the global conservation movement.

This article uses visual text and network analysis with agency budget documents to examine linkages between agencies. These findings are triangulated with semi-structured interviews analyzed with axial coding to develop a framework for the budget process and its outcomes in US protected area agencies.

The visual text analysis demonstrates varying levels of coordination between agencies. The conceptual framework shows that five factors - mismatches within agencies, the influence of the Presidential administration, the power of Congress as the appropriator of funds, external forces that influence Congress, and a lack of accountability in allocations – lead to institutional fragmentation and “disparate nature enclaves”.

Interview findings are derived from a non-representative population, and thus should not be generalized for all agencies or budget systems.

Understanding the factors influencing agency budget proposals will inform policy to make budgeting more effective for U.S. and other national protected area systems.

Few studies have conducted qualitative analyses of federal agencies and their budgets, particularly for federal protected areas.

The purpose of this paper is to present an exhaustive review of research studies and activities in the inkjet printing of conductive materials.

This paper gives a detailed literature survey of research carried out in inkjet printing of conductive materials.

This article explains the inkjet printing process and the various types of conductive inks. It then examines the various factors that affect the quality of inkjet printed interconnects such as printing parameters, materials and substrate treatments. Methods of characterising both the inkjet printing process and the electrical properties of printed conductive materials are also presented. Finally relevant applications of this technology are described.

Inkjet printing is currently one of the cheapest direct write techniques for manufacturing. The use of this technique in electronic manufacturing, where interconnects and other conductive features are required is an area of increasing relevance to the fields of electronics manufacturing, packaging and assembly. This review paper would therefore be of great value and interest to this community.