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This paper examines the early experiences of the use of the New Engineering Contract (NEC) based on research at the University of Birmingham. It starts with a brief description of the research methodology before giving an overview of the extent of use of NEC, both in the UK and overseas, and the choices of contract strategy options which have been made. The third and main part of the paper concerns the experiences of the contract in use. The impact of the NEC on contract preparation is assessed followed by a review of the effectiveness of the new contract procedures and their implications. The changes in the roles and staffing that are required in the NEC are then considered and this leads to a discussion of the changes in culture and attitude which are stimulated by NEC. An emphasis has been put on the practical issues which a new user of the NEC will need to consider. Before concluding, the paper briefly presents the findings on whether the NEC is achieving its aims of improved clarity.

During the 2020 election cycle, 2,276 super PACs spent over $2.1 billion in federal elections. This chapter argues that changes made to the US campaign finance system brought about by the Citizens United v. FEC (2010) and SpeechNow.org v. FEC (2010) cases have destabilized the American political system by fueling tensions between right-wing and left-wing populist factions and by contributing to congressional corruption. By moving away from the political corruption standard and toward the free speech standard in Citizens United, polarizing wealthy mega-donors and dark money sources have come to play a dominant role in congressional elections. These cases also helped to contribute to a two-tiered campaign finance regulatory structure that distinguishes between campaign contributions given directly to federal candidates and political money contributed to super PACs to support or oppose federal candidates. In the 2020 congressional elections, PACs and super PACS outspent both major party candidates combined in 35 House and Senate races. Super PACs are serving as “shadow parties” by targeting competitive races for the purpose of swaying partisan control of Congress. This study also shows that an exceedingly high percentage of super PAC money is spent on negative advertising that further divides rather than unifies the nation. This chapter also highlights the corrupting influence of congressional leadership PACs and examines how super PACs have enabled foreign and dark money sources to illegally influence congressional campaigns.

“The organisation of any library depends on the men and women who work there. They have a very important job. They are the indispensable middle‐men of culture and science, and in opening this library we ought to remember that its success will depend on them as much as on what is in it.”—The Duke of Edinburgh, opening the Scottish Central Library on November 5th, 1953.

Target cost contracts are growing in popularity but concerns remain about the interplay between fee, target, sharing ratios and the final price. This paper offers a fundamental analysis of the principles under‐pinning target contracts. It shows that there is scope for manipulation of tenders and that suboptimal methods of tender evaluation are in use. The paper analyses both fixed fee and percentage fee contracts. Methods of tender evaluation are proposed that will both reduce the scope for manipulation by tenderers and increase the likelihood of the contract being awarded to the tenderer whose final price will be the lowest. The analysis reveals a strong case for setting the contractor's share of cost overrun or underrun at a value that is not less than 50%. Finally, the paper proposes two simplifications that would reduce the number of variables in target cost contracts of the future. One is for the employer to set the fee and the other requires only that a target be tendered but with the fee built into it.

IT WAS THE first moment I had had to myself since Christmas Eve. All passion spent, sherry drunk, holly brittle, the tree dropping vindictive needles in a damnable fashion, the cards aflop, with listless gaze and the year not two days old, I took up NEW LIBRARY WORLD.

The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the results of applying executive coaching (EC) as a management competency training and development strategy, setting up a comparison with other known training and development methods.

A dual sample is used. On the one hand, information is collected from a sample of 100 managers who participated as coachees in an EC process. On the other hand, the study provides the opinions of 236 HR managers as prescribers and promoters of company executive training and development actions.

The results suggest that EC is an effective management training and development method (MTDM). Furthermore, it is confirmed to be more effective than the rest of the techniques analysed in relation with sustained and observable management behaviour changes, whilst also providing advantages and drawbacks in its use.

Coaching seems to provide the most effective method for altering a selected number of concrete managerial behaviours, although its cost, length, and specificity limit its capacity to be used exclusively as a tool for continuous and generalised management training.

In addition to incorporating two different samples and points of view within the analysis, this work contributes evidence regarding behaviours addressed in EC processes – a feature that has received little analysis in the academic literature – and breaks new ground by comparing the results of this method with other MTDMs in terms of their degree of effectiveness in attaining observable and lasting behaviour changes.

A systematic and evidence informed approach to new service developments (the “spotlight” approach) was developed with members of a new primary health care team. The approach aimed to ensure that service developments were relevant, grounded in evidence, documented and clearly owned by the practice team. A total of 13 spotlight developments were defined and documented during the first nine months. All considered relevance to local policy, all used research evidence and/or other accepted sources of appropriate expertise and all were discussed at team meetings. The spotlight approach quickly became accessible and familiar to new team members. It provides a common structure and language for discussion and documentation and is applicable to a wide range of service‐linked developments. It provides a vehicle for translating research into practice and the documentation to facilitate transfer of what has been learnt to others in the community for whom the development and its evidence base is relevant.

This paper examines the state’s accountability to its citizens, in particular the First Peoples of settler colonial nations such as Australia, and how these responsibilities may be enacted via a process of compensatory justice in Native Title claims. We focus on the landmark Timber Creek ruling and the impacts of racialized preconceptions on the accountability outcomes of the case.

This study draws on critical race theory to reveal embedded racialised perspectives that perpetuate exclusion and discriminatory outcomes. Court documents including hearing transcripts, case judgements, witness statements, appellant and respondent submissions, expert reports and responses from First Nations leaders, form the basis of our analysis.

The case highlights how the compensation awarded to Native Title holders was based on racialised assumptions that prioritised neoliberal values, commercial activities and reaching a “socially acceptable” judgement over valuing Aboriginal uses of land. A critical analysis of court documents reveals the pervasiveness of presumed “objectivity” in the use of accounting tools to calculate economic value and the accountability implications of a process based on litigation, not negotiation. These findings reveal the hiding places offered by calculative practices that equate neoliberal priorities with accountability and reaffirm the importance of alternative accountings to resist inequitable distributive outcomes.

Novel insights, drawing on First Nations peoples’ connections to land and their perspectives on accountability and justice, are offered in this study. Our analysis of Native Title holders’ submissions to the courts alongside historical and anthropological sources leads to the conclusion that compensation decisions regarding Native Title land must be approached from the perspective of Aboriginal landowners if accountable outcomes are to be achieved.