Search results

Dr Robinson discusses the careers prospects in chemistry, particularly in the light of the present economic climate.

This paper examines the applicable scope of United States employment discrimination law to “American” employers of U.S. citizens abroad. Through an analysis of the extraterritorial dimension of American anti‐bias, it is demonstrated that over time, it has become accepted that the full‐range of U.S. anti‐bias law applies transnationally. However, just who is considered an “American” firm is an open‐ended question under the Mas Marques test codified in the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The implications of this ambiguity could well lead to potential legal conflicts in the area of employment discrimination for a multitude of firms worldwide who may not consider themselves presently to be bound by United States employment law.

Reports on the role of UK emigrants to the USA in the creation and early development of its public accountancy profession. Explains findings in the context of US public accountancy firms founded by UK immigrants and focuses on the recruitment of qualified and unqualified public accountants from the UK. The study is based on searches of relevant archives in the UK and USA. The evidence reveals UK immigrants played a substantial part in the formation and early development of both public accountancy firms and institutions in the USA. However, the recruitment of immigrants by US firms appears to have been a temporary phenomenon pending the supply of US‐born accountants with suitable training and experience. The firms examined include local and national firms. Subject to data retrieval limitations, a major conclusion of the study is that unqualified immigrants played significant roles in the early histories of firms and institutions of US public accountancy.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between psychiatry and occupational therapy in Ireland through a case study of the development of the occupational therapy department in St. Patrick’s Hospital, Dublin, from 1935 to 1969. Patronage by psychiatrists was an important factor in the professionalisation of occupational therapy internationally.

Documentary sources and oral history interviews were analysed to conduct an instrumental case study of occupational therapy at St. Patrick’s Hospital from 1935 to 1969.

The research identified key individuals associated with the development of occupational therapy at St. Patrick’s Hospital, including psychiatrist Norman Moore, occupational therapy worker Olga Gale, occupational therapist Margaret Sinclair, and social therapist Irene Violet Grey. Occupational therapy was considered by the hospital authorities to be “an important part in the treatment of all types of psychiatric illness” (Board Meeting Minutes, 1956). It aimed to develop patient’s self-esteem and facilitate social participation. To achieve these objectives, patients engaged in activities such as dances, arts and crafts, and social activities.

This study has highlighted the contributions of key individuals, identified the links between occupational therapy and psychiatry, and provided an insight into the development of the profession in Ireland prior to the establishment of occupational therapy education in 1963. Occupational therapy practice at St. Patrick’s Hospital from 1935 to 1969 was congruent with the prevailing philosophy of occupational therapy internationally, which involved treatment through activities to enhance participation in society.

The monograph argues that American racism has two colours (white and black), not one; and that each racism dresses itself not in one clothing, but in four: (1) “Minimal” negative, when one race considers another race inferior to itself in degree, but not in nature; (2) “Maximal” negative, when one race regards another as inherently inferior; (3) “Minimal” positive, when one race elevates another race to a superior status in degree, but not in nature; and (4) “Maximal” positive, when one race believes that the other race is genetically superior. The monograph maintains that the needs of capitalism created black slavery; that black slavery produced white racism as a justification for black slavery; and that black racism is a backlash of white racism. The monograph concludes that the abolition of black slavery and the civil rights movement destroyed the social and political ground for white and black racism, while the modern development of capitalism is demolishing their economic and intellectual ground.

This paper aims to examine and compare a performance measurement system and performance frameworks commonly used within the construction industry. The paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of balanced scorecard (BSC) and business excellence model (BEM) to propose an integrated model for measuring strategic performance of construction organisations as a single model. The purpose is to help organisations achieve performance excellence, financial integrity and continuous improvement in business results to sustain competitive advantage.

This paper examines and compares performance measurement system and performance frameworks commonly used within the construction industry. The paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of BSC and BEM to propose an integrated model for measuring strategic performance of construction organisations as a single model. The purpose is to help organisations achieve performance excellence, financial integrity and continuous improvement in business results to sustain competitive advantage.

The study reveals that the most popular performance measurement framework in construction includes: BSC; Key Performance Indicators and European Foundation for Quality Management. However, literature also reveals that Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is being used to measure performance in the construction. The study findings indicated that BSC and BEM could be combined to provide an integrated model that will encompass every facet of construction performance measures.

The paper integrates the BSC and BEM performance measurement models, to provide construction organisations the opportunities of benefitting from the two models as a single tool without having to use more than one model or miss out any important aspect of performance measures. The model will assist organisations perform regular health checks of all business process and at the same time help align organisational activities with strategic primacy.

The paper offers an integrated construction excellence model as a useful tool for measuring both financial and non-financial performance aspects of construction organisations. This will provide managers, owners and other stakeholders the chance of measuring processes and pre-eminent strategic initiatives using a single model.

The conceptual paper presents an integration of processes and perspectives for measuring performance as a new and useful tool in the context of the South African construction industry. The paper suggests that research efforts should be directed on how to implement the strategic performance model efficiently within a specific construction environment.

Managers in the UK's National Health Service (NHS) carry responsibility for achieving government targets on the provision of quality care and service to patients. The demands on managers to achieve these targets is significant in itself, but are often multiplied because of having to cope with the conflicting pressures of an organisation that operates with a ‘business’ focus, yet is essentially a caring body that is service‐oriented at heart. These two areas of business and service are not naturally compatible and can create tension. Leaders are expected to bridge the two with ease, with little preparation on how to cope with the conflict that these two paradigms can create.This paper, detailing the authors' work with managers in an NHS acute trust, provides unique insights into ways of dealing with the tensions and challenges that leaders experience. The authors argue that a holistic approach to leadership is required to enable this tension to be managed effectively, which considers the physical, mental and spiritual. Of these three elements it is the spiritual dimension that is the most contentious, difficult and most often avoided aspect to leadership and the authors also found this in their work with this NHS acute trust. The paper introduces a model that highlights the three elements to the holistic approach, and goes on to use it in an analysis of the situation faced by managers. The analysis highlights the importance of balance and need for including more consideration of the spiritual dimension in leaders' activities.

This article concerns a study with the purpose of identifying differences in the management of quality between manufacturing, private service and public service organisations. A questionnaire was sent to members of the Swedish Association for Quality. Some interesting differences were identified. Customer orientation is highest in the private service sector and lowest in the public service sector. The manufacturing companies’ usage of ISO 9000 is extremely high and their usage of the Swedish Quality Award is fairly low whereas the public service organisations use both these two models equally. This corresponds with the finding that ISO 9000 produces better results in the manufacturing sector whereas The Swedish Quality Award produces better results in the service sector. Generally, the indication is that quality management is most successful in the manufacturing sector and least successful in the public service sector. There is also a difference in that improvements in the manufacturing sector are more often about the processes whereas the organisations within the public service sector more often report improvements regarding personnel.

Resurgent interest in the life and work of the Italian Cambridge economist Piero Sraffa is leading to New Directions in Sraffa Scholarship. This chapter introduces readers to some of these developments. First and perhaps foremost is the fact that as of September 2016 Sraffa’s archival material has been uploaded onto the website of the Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge University, as digital colour images; this chapter introduces readers to the history of these events. This history provides sharp relief on the extant debates over the role of the archival material in leading to the final publication of Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, and readers are provided a brief sketch of these matters. The varied nature of Sraffa scholarship is demonstrated by the different aspects of Sraffa’s intellectual legacy which are developed and discussed in the various entries of our Symposium. The conclusion is reached that we are on the cusp of an exciting phase change of tremendous potential in Sraffa scholarship.