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This case study by two members of the staff of Newcastle Polytechnic Centre for Continuing Education and Training was presented, with a number of similar papers, to a conference Access to Higher Education organised by The Royal Society in conjunction with MSC, DES, DTI, DofE, CNAA and the Committee of Vice‐Chancellors and Principals. The conference dealt with the options for widening access to HE, both for 18‐year‐olds and mature students, in the light of the known fall by one‐third between 1985 and 1995 in the number of school‐leavers in the UK.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the status of Six Sigma's status in Brazilian companies and understand the integration of this program with other quality management approaches. Additionally, the critical success factors (CSFs) for Six Sigma implementation and primary Six Sigma program characteristics were identified. Finally, the results of the used of Six Sigma were analysed.

An extensive literature review illustrates the primary Six Sigma characteristics and its relationship with other quality approaches. The research methodology encompasses survey development and statistical analyses. Questionnaires are distributed to 1,000 large firms in the manufacturing and service industries in Brazil. Altogether, a total of 198 firms, of which 46 companies adopted the Six Sigma program, participated in this study.

The results suggest a synergic and incremental pattern of quality model implementation. The study reveals that companies that have adopted Six Sigma have a long history of implementing quality programs, which suggests a certain level of quality maturity. The studied companies perceive in Six Sigma an incremental evolution, which can be combined with earlier initiatives and provides strong synergy with ISO 9000. The findings of this study confirm the distinctive Six Sigma role structure suggested by several authors. However, three possible configurations of the role structure were found that differ in terms of training and the dedication of human resources involved in the Six Sigma program.

This study demonstrates the inherent limits of the research method adopted, the use of a non-probabilistic sample and a reliance on self-reported perceptions, which introduces bias to the analysis.

Important managerial implications of this study are related to the Six Sigma structure adopted. The capillarity of the program in the organisation as a whole can be related to the type of role structure configuration adopted. This structure can have an impact in terms of both numbers and employees’ and managers’ degree of involvement, as well as the type of training and resources provided.

The diffusion of Six Sigma in Brazilian companies is less widespread than in other countries. Three possible configurations of the role structure were found that differ in terms of the training and dedication of human resources entailed by the Six Sigma program. Three CSFs factors were identified: organisation, infrastructure and human resources.

This paper presents a critical analysis of a national organisation involved in credit rating, focusing on credit rating as a quality assurance issue. The organisation ‐ The SCOTCAT Health Studies Group (SHSG) ‐ began with an ethos of self‐help and mutual aid. It now inhabits a world sited ambiguously between, on the one hand, professional and fee‐for‐service imperatives and, on the other hand, an emergent Government‐sponsored rhetoric of transparency and cooperation for life‐long learning. The paper stems from our concern that issues of quality may be compromised by these imperatives and tensions. We have used the metaphor of SHSG as a “life form” to facilitate exploration of its origins, structure, and place in a wider context, noting limits in the metaphor’s power to illuminate these matters. The paper addresses issues which SHSG must face, as an organisation having members from both the professional (nursing) and the higher educational domains must face; particularly when the two worlds it bridges are changing. The analysis focuses on four themes: evolution, co‐operation, confidence, and mutual recognition of quality. Each theme has a reflexive aspect. Linkages between the themes are discussed in light of the development of SHSG, and some general issues related to changes in inter‐institutional relationships are raised.

THIS month there will be assembling at Margate the Conference on Automation organised by the Institution of Production Engineers.

SOCIAL scientists have not yet been able to formulate any general laws about behaviour in industry that are capable of broad application. In recent years, however, they have made many useful case studies of which the one just published by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research is typical. It is an approach to the problem which can do much to increase the understanding of the way in which people react to common industrial situations.

WHEN John I. Snyder Jr. flew over from the United States he probably did not relish the Cassandra rôle into which circumstances had forced him. As president of U.S. Industries he gave one of the most depressing addresses of modern times. Since his firm is a large manufacturer of automation machines it was probably natural that he should say: ‘Automation is inevitable. Its use is rapidly increasing. Positive action by the makers of automation machines must be taken now to preserve the human values which could otherwise become cannon fodder of the automation barrage.’

MANY of the parish and community libraries of Scotland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were subscription libraries, as this was the best way for people of limited means to amass and maintain reasonable collections, but it was not always so. When William Ewart and his colleagues met to consider the problem of public libraries in 1849, they interviewed John Imray, a civil engineer who had seen several parochial and village libraries in the north of Aberdeenshire. The cross‐examination by Ewart began as follows:

MISS ANNE SHAW's presence on the platform at the annual general meeting of the Management Consultants Association was a solid assurance that work study still lies within its scope. The initial impression was weakened, however, when the chairman, Mr. D. J. Nicolson, mentioned that the bulk of consultancy work was no longer concerned with work study. Instead, it gave more than half its attention to policymaking and the broad aspects of organising financial, manufacturing and marketing resources.

A WELL‐BALANCED programme of lectures was presented at the Thirteenth Forum, dealing with design and development of engines, auto‐pilots, rotor blades, investigations of VTOL concepts, rotor blade dynamics, and helicopter operations. The technical contributions were of the high standard normally associated with American work in this field, while the ‘commercials’ extolling the merits of a particular product were, with one exception, restrained, by local standards. The exception was notable for the use of full‐blooded TV commercial presentation techniques, including sound recordings of the first engine run (preceded by the inevitable countdown) and the phased presentation of slides at the rate of two a minute. It may be that this innovation will be taken to its logical conclusion, and that future ‘lectures’ dealing with proprietary designs will be delivered by a professional commentator, to the accompaniment of suitable background music. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, we bring you today the engine of tomorrow, the fabulous XYZ!’ (Triumphant chord.) ‘The engine that only Blank Inc. could make!’

The Torpedo Marine Division of Berger Chemicals have appointed Mr George Topping as South East regional manager.