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The recent slowdown in the global economy has been a trigger for discontinuous change, prompting many organisations to re‐examine their collaborative strategies. This paper, focuses on the management of collaborative relationships in a period of discontinuity, presents, compares and contrasts three case studies, each of distinctly separate systems integrators from within the high technology sector in Ireland. The case data presented were gathered in 2001 as part of CO‐IMPROVE – an EU‐funded action research project focused on collaborative improvement within the extended manufacturing enterprise. This paper presents a cross case analysis that examines different choices faced by these systems integrators in their management of collaborative relationships with their supply bases.

Introduces the special issue of the papers presented at the 9th International EurOMA Conference, 2‐4 June 2002, Copenhagen, Denmark. The articles represent the wide variety of topics presented at the conference and also a common theme: “mew challenges in operations management”.

As universities grapple with the question of how to prepare students for increasingly uncertain futures, the development of evidence-based frameworks to guide academic program¹ design is critical. Here, we propose a strategic framework with a high impact on program design, implementation, and evaluation as well as mentoring and support for academic program leaders. High impact can be achieved when program leaders are enabled to embed key future-focused capabilities and skills across the curriculum in a program. In order to ensure that these capabilities are systematically and cohesively embedded in students’ learning journeys, we suggest that academic program leaders (e.g., Directors of Studies, Subject Area Coordinators, etc.) require strategic approaches to program design, implementation, and evaluation, as well as mentoring and support. Such approaches would ensure that high impact practices are consistently employed, rather than being the exception in isolated courses.² At Queensland University of Technology, we have developed a holistic model to support “whole-of-program” design for award programs across faculties and disciplines, in a coherent and strategic way. The model we use is based on a framework for curriculum design called the Future Focused Curriculum Design Framework (FFCF), and is an iterative model that places learners at the center of their learning to enable meaningful change to the design of programs. The adoption of the framework is supported by curriculum design studios situated within each discipline-specific faculty,³ which are made up of curriculum and learning designers, working closely with academics in different faculties. A key element of the process is that curriculum design studios enable relationships and communities to develop (Wenger et al., 2002), which in turn allows for contextualized practice. This holistic model supports whole-of-program design for award programs, in a coherent and strategic way and enables communities of practice to emerge in an iterative manner. In this chapter, we share our experiences with using this model and the impacts it has achieved, and we reflect on ways it be adapted for future use and in other contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a part of a study examining the interrelationships between personalisation and safeguarding practice. Specifically the authors aimed to examine how safeguarding practice is affected by the roll out of personalisation in adult social care, particularly when the adult at risk has a personal budget or is considering this.

A sample of annual reports from Adult Safeguarding Boards in England was accessed for content analysis covering the period 2009-2011. One part of this sample of local authorities was selected at random; the other authorities selected had been early adopters of personalisation. The reports were analysed using a pro forma to collect salient information on personalisation that was cross-referenced to identify common themes and differences.

The authors found variable mentions of personalisation as part of the macro policy context reported in the annual reviews, some examples of system or process changes at mezzo level where opportunities to discuss the interface were emerging, and some small reports of training and case accounts relevant to personalisation. Overall these two policy priorities seemed to be more closely related than had been found in earlier research on the interface between adult safeguarding and personalisation.

There was wide variation in the annual reports in terms of detail, size and content, and reports for only one year were collected. Developments may have taken place but might not have been recorded in the annual reports so these should not be relied upon as complete accounts of organisational or practice developments.

Authors of Safeguarding Adults Board reports may benefit from learning that their reports may be read both immediately and potentially in the future. They may wish to ensure their comments on current matters will be intelligible to possible future readers and researchers.

There does not appear to have been any other previous study of Safeguarding Adult Boards’ annual reports. Documentary analysis at local level is under-developed in safeguarding studies.

This paper aims to review the status of development of building information modelling (BIM), its trends and themes across the six continents of the world.

A total of 914 journal articles sought from the search engine of Web of Science (WOS) based on the country/region option of the WOS to group them into continents. A best-fit approach was then applied in selecting the suitable software programmes for the scientometric analysis and comparisons and deductions were made.

The findings revealed that there are differences in the development of BIM across the six continents of the world. South America and Africa are lagging in the BIM research and Australia and Asia are growing, whilst Europe and North America are ahead. In addition, there exist differences in the research themes and trends in these continents as against the single view presented in extant studies.

This study introduced a new approach to carry out a comparative and taxonomic review and has provided both academic researchers and industrial practitioners with a clear status of development of BIM research and the trend across the six continents of the world.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the experiences of carers caring for an adult child, particularly as they affect the transition from midlife into older age. It explores aspects affecting the vast majority of carers, such as accessing information and services, but focuses on the specific concerns of those caring for a child with a life-long disability or a child who acquires a long-term health problem in adolescence or adulthood. In the context of the introduction of the Care Act (2014) in England, the paper highlights ways in which support for carers could be improved.

This paper draws on interview data which consisted of 86 face-to-face interviews with purposefully selected participants based in four local authorities. At the end of the study in 2014 the authors held a series of five focus groups for practitioners and carers to explore how the emerging findings chimed with their experiences and to refine the study’s messages for practice. The data from interviews are set in the context of policy and practice developments in social care in England.

The paper draws attention to the need for practitioners to find ways of involving carers in decision making without compromising the rights to autonomy and choice on the part of the person cared for. Both those commissioning services and practitioners need to acknowledge that parent carers need assurances about the long-term viability and quality of the plans that are developed for the person they support.

This paper is drawn on interviews with carers and practitioners in four areas of England; most of the carers interviewed were white British and female. The implications of planning research and conducting research with family carers are explored and their similarities with practice encounters identified.

The key practice point in this paper highlights the necessity of talking about the future with parent carers, making plans for possible and highly likely events, addressing mortality, and being aware of the potential for a deeply held sense of pessimism and unspoken distress among carers. Some participants seemed to feel that practitioners conveyed a sense that they were inadequate or unwilling to discuss these matters and practitioners who suspect this may apply to them or their team could usefully consider seeking skills development to improve their practice.

This paper is the first to consider practice perspectives in the context of the Care Act (2014) and personal budgets in England relating to parent carers.