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Sound lending procedures in retail financial institutions involve identifying high‐risk applicants, modifying loan conditions such as security requirements, and monitoring repayments post‐loan approval. For managers of credit unions, this procedure is complicated by the need to achieve balance between the institution’s social objective of improving loan accessibility so members can attain lifestyle goals and the possibility of reducing the institution’s viability through loan default. The results of our survey of Australian credit unions, in which 70 per cent of respondents reported experiencing some bankruptcy‐related default on personal loans, indicate managers do not impose more stringent lending conditions on high‐risk borrowers. However, social and viability objectives could be better balanced through careful loan monitoring and timely arrears practices.

Process benchmarking partnerships are emerging as a research tool to help small firms to build a competitive advantage against larger rivals. Managers are now beginning to appreciate the need to benchmark the strategically relevant processes in their value chain. Process benchmarking begins with exploratory qualitative research to determine the core processes to be benchmarked. Quantitative research then follows, using an audit methodology and involving the collection of the costs of core processes from benchmark partners on a standardised computer spreadsheet. Each partner receives the results of statistical analysis comparing the firm’s own cost structure to the average of the benchmark partners in each core process. Strategic planning decisions can then be made about how to generate greater customer value by eliminating excess capacity, outsourcing and modifying existing processes. This paper describes a process benchmarking partnership conducted across four Australian building societies to illustrate the strategic benefits of this research methodology for firms in the new millennium.

This article examines the place of organizational politics in general and ingratiation specifically as a tactic in which there is an attempt by individuals to increase their attractiveness and upward influence in the eyes of other organizational members (management). Four common tactics of ingratiators were identified: other enhancement, rendering favors, opinion conformity and self‐presentation. Suggests that ingratiation is influenced by individual variables such as: Machiavellianism, locus of control and work task uniqueness. Furthermore, situational variables affect this political behavior There were mixed research results on the impact of ingratiation on further career success. Some recent research concluded that this tactic has little or no effect on extrinsic and intrinsic rewards available to the individual.

The use of women's networks is emerging as one method of advancing women's careers within organizations. However, the value of these networks has been questioned. The purpose of this study is to examine how potential differences in the perceptions of network members and the firm's executive leadership about the purposes and anticipated outcomes of a women's network may impact women's career advancement.

The authors interviewed 21 members of an intra‐firm women's network and six members of the executive leadership team of a global organization. To examine the qualitative data, they used a process of thematic analysis to discover prevalent themes in the transcribed interviews.

Both members of the women's network and the executive leadership team placed responsibility for women's career advancement upon the individual; the firm's male‐dominated culture and organizational constraints were not emphasized. While members of the women's network recognized how the network could be used to contribute to the firm's strategic goals, the executive leadership team did not recognize the network's possible effect on the firm's bottom line.

Examines how potential differences in the perceptions of network members and the firm's executive leadership about the purposes and anticipated outcomes of a women's network may impact women's career advancement.

China has become a driving force in the world economy, yet East‐West cultural differences remain a problem area for many managers. This paper examines the importance of Confucianism in shaping societal values in China and how these values have affected the Chinese style of management. Confucian principles are extracted from the extant literature and used to explain the cultural underpinnings of Chinese leadership patterns, interpersonal behaviors and individual values. The longevity of Confucian influences throughout Chinese culture is a major factor in China’s resistance to Western management practices. There is also evidence that mainstream Confucian principles emphasizing teamwork, relationships and strong corporate cultures are gaining traction in the West. Future Western researchers should pay increased attention to East Asian philosophies and Asian‐based religions in their attempts to understand non‐Christian lifestyles and management methods.

The long controversy that has waxed furiously around the implementation of the EEC Directives on the inspection of poultry meat and hygiene standards to be observed in poultry slaughterhouses, cutting‐up premises, &c, appears to be resolved at last. (The Prayer lodged against the Regulations when they were formally laid before Parliament just before the summer recess, which meant they would have to be debated when the House reassembled, could have resulted in some delay to the early operative dates, but little chance of the main proposals being changed.) The controversy began as soon as the EEC draft directive was published and has continued from the Directive of 1971 with 1975 amendments. There has been long and painstaking study of problems by the Ministry with all interested parties; enforcement was not the least of these. The expansion and growth of the poultry meat industry in the past decade has been tremendous and the constitution of what is virtually a new service, within the framework of general food inspection, was inevitable. None will question the need for efficient inspection or improved and higher standards of hygiene, but the extent of the

Teaching about nutrition is a crucial component of high school health education, with the potential to shape students' perceptions about food, weight and bodies and improve health outcomes. Weight-inclusive approaches have demonstrated success in improving body acceptance, decreasing dieting behaviors and anti-fat attitudes and improving health outcomes and may decrease weight-based bullying. However, little is known about nutrition education in high school settings. This study sought to understand how high school health teachers in Vermont are teaching about the connections between nutrition, weight and bodies and what influences their nutrition-focused curricular decisions. The goal is to inform the development of a novel weight-inclusive curriculum for high school health teachers in Vermont and beyond.

This study used case study methodology: qualitative interviews with eight teachers and document analysis of curricular materials.

Findings indicate that weight-normative activities and values dominate curriculum and that multiple levels exert influence on teacher curricular decisions. Findings confirm a need for the development and implementation of a weight-inclusive nutrition curriculum, professional development for health teachers and policy-level interventions as strategies to improve health outcomes.

Limitations of the data collection include a small within-case sample size and limited availability of documents to review. However, the triangulation of gathered and publicly available data ultimately supported an in-depth case study.

The findings from this study inform future directions for both curriculum and professional development for high school health teachers, which is essential for improving health outcomes, reducing stigma and moving toward justice. This is original work.

A case study analysis was conducted on a Canadian company, to investigate the impact of selected independent variables on productivity, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship. The study tested the hypothesis that there was a decrease in these variables among employees because of ineffective project management resulting in unmet deadlines, incomplete end results, inequitable allocation of resources and inequitable levels of member participation to the accomplishment of projects. Concludes there appears to be a direct relationship between the factors of communication, leadership, power and politics, organizational structure and the decrease in productivity in terms of meeting project timelines and efficient product development.