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Globally, over 95% of fire related deaths and injuries occur in low- and middle-income countries. Within informal settlements, the risk of fire resulting in injury or death is particularly high. This paper examines fire risks in informal settlements in New Delhi and Cape Town, and tented informal settlements in Lebanon.

Our analysis draws on primary sources, secondary literature, statistical data and qualitative interviews.

The distribution of fire risk across urban societies is a fundamentally political issue. Residential fire risk can be tackled by accessible, affordable, safety-compliant housing. That said, important interim measures can be taken to mitigate fire risk. Some of the risks requiring attention are similar across our case studies, driven by high population densities; flammable housing materials; unreliable or inaccessible access to safe power sources; and – in the case of Cape Town and New Delhi particularly – the inability of fire services to reach sites of fire. However, these common risks are embedded in distinct social, economic and political contexts that must be placed at the center of any intervention. Interventions must also be aware that the risk of fire is not spread evenly within informal settlements, intersecting as it does with factors like gender, age, health and disability.

Informal settlement fires have been under-studied to date. The studies that do exist tend to operate within disciplinary silos. This paper represents an important interdisciplinary approach to fire within informal settlements, which grounds technical data, modeling and experiments in political, social and economic realities.

Butler's well‐documented concept of the tourism destination area life cycle (Butler 1980) was adapted from the marketing notion of the product life cycle and used to examine the rise and decline of tourist resorts and the regions within which they are located. Initially few empirical studies attempted to examine the validity of this concept but published findings of such applications have begun to come forward. Among the studies available, that of Cooper and Jackson (1989) on the Isle of Man demonstrates the descriptive value of the concept and its ability to act as an analytical framework for explaining the evolution of tourism in particular areas. However they do note (Cooper & Jackson 1989 p. 386) that Butler's model is less valuable as a prescriptive tool.

Discusses the barriers to women′s advancement, identifying the “male equals management” paradigm as a constraint. Also considers the implications of women′s role in the family, individual characteristics and the importance of language. Notes the impact of the formal and informal organization as factors which create the “glass ceiling”, inhibiting women′s ability to climb the corporate ladder. Identifies initiatives such as Opportunity 2000 and training courses as potential solutions to the problem. Also suggests that male managers and organizations per se should be more flexible, which would create greater achievement opportunities for women managers.

The purpose of this paper is to share the experience of a Local Authority in their attempt to embed a personalised approach to Safeguarding. In 2013, Rochdale Adult Care took part in a three-month Making Safeguarding Personal improvement work pilot to facilitate a shift in emphasis from process to a commitment to improve outcomes for individuals at risk of harm.

New safeguarding referrals to an established Safeguarding Team were used to capture “outcomes” from the start of an enquiry. A work plan was developed, which included the creation of a pro forma to help frame a conversation between professional and individual. This facilitated recording and collating to help devise a menu of outcomes for reporting to the Local Safeguarding Adult Board. The pilot also helped to formalise and standardise “outcomes” practice and introduced an “outcome focussed” interview at the start and end of the safeguarding to identify and measure outcomes with the individual.

By involving workers throughout the pilot, they were able to identify their own practice improvements, understand the benefits to individuals who were reported to be more engaged with the safeguarding enquiry and suggest changes to processes that were a departure from the regimented requirements of “No Secrets” (Department of Health (DH), 2000).

This approach has enabled a group of social workers to now act as champions to embed MSP throughout the adult care service following a local restructure.

Life returns to normal after the Biafran war. Yet outside businessmen are still wary of the economic climate in spite of the country's new oil riches. Lesley Bernstein reports

To investigate the determinants of behavioural brand loyalty amongst dissatisfied customers in the business‐to‐business (B2B) services sector.

A qualitative study was conducted, with 28 personal interviews undertaken with managers who are involved in the choice of service providers. The respondents belonged to 24 organisations located in Australia. Template analysis and eyeballing were techniques used to analyse the data collected.

Assessment of the reasons why dissatisfied customers stayed with the service providers resulted in six categories. The categories were found to be, in order of decreasing frequency, impact of alternative providers, switching costs (18), others (17), inertia (14), investment in relationships (13), and service recovery (13). The results not only confirmed factors found in the literature, but also uncovered 11 other factors.

The sample size, whilst appropriate for qualitative research, should be considered adequate only for exploratory analysis and a further quantitative study is needed to validate the study.

This study is important for those firms who have many prospective switchers because it is important to understand why these customers stay, and to what extent such firms can discourage such customers from leaving in both positive and negative ways. For those service firms that are attempting to attract these prospective switchers, an understanding of why they do not switch is important, as it will enable them to develop strategies to overcome these switching barriers and gain market share.

This research is the first study to investigate in a single model a range of barriers to switching in a B2B services context. The results that confirmed categories found in the literature also discovered 11 other factors not evident in the extant literature.