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Loughton Photographic has five retail outlets in Essex and a turnover of around £3m. For some time they have been using, with success, a system provided by DSI which involves the installation of micro‐computer based POS tills in the shops and linking them to an information processing service.

In today's business world customers of all industry sectors are becoming more informed as to the level of choice and competition for their custom. This has led to the requirement for businesses to develop and maintain marketing strategies that will increase their competitiveness within their respective sector. Relationship marketing (RM) is a marketing theory, which has benefited businesses in many other sectors, though the concepts may be fairly new in the facilities management (FM) sector. This study is concerned with the review of the fundamental principles of RM, and its benefits for the FM sector. The purpose of this paper is to test whether the FM sector in the UK is aware of the RM theory, and is implementing this theory in its day‐to‐day practices. Research aims are to: investigate the level of understanding present in the FM industry with regards to RM; and to ascertain the benefits that could be available for the industry if an RM orientation is to be employed.

Following the literature review, a questionnaire is distributed to the members of the British Institute of Facilities Management in the North of England.

The survey identifies the FM industry's capability of using many RM strategies, however, the industry does not classify its customers at present, in order to deliver more targeted services.

The study reveals that the FM sector understands RM and that RM is a concept that the industry would benefit from.

About 20 years ago it was recognised that an anomaly could arise in the application of the dual rate method of valuation where the income varied during the term, and in subsequent years various methods of modifying the dual rate calculation were proposed, including the Double Sinking Fund Method (A. W. Davidson), and the Annual Equivalent and Sinking Fund Methods (M. J. Greaves). A further alternative, Pannell's method, has also been suggested, but it is not considered here. These three methods give somewhat differing results as demonstrated by Baum and Mackmin,1 since the underlying assumptions are different. These latter authors came to the conclusion that the Double Sinking Fund Method (DSF) in particular could result in a degree of over‐valuation and the purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons for this.

Cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) has a developing evidence base for working with complex cases including personality disorder. This article describes the use of CAT with a single 25‐year‐old male patient with severe personality difficulties who was residing in a medium secure hospital. It is suggested that, in treatment of severe personality difficulties, rather than aiming at ‘cure’, therapy may have a more modest goal such as movement from personality‐disordered functioning to adequate or optimal personality functioning.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolution of relationship marketing (RM) in a new technology-based firm (NTBF) and to illustrate how social embeddednesss benefits can be achieved by engaging in RM in a rural resource-constrained bilingual context.

A single in-depth case study of a NTBF operating in a rural bilingual context was explored over a five-year period. As part of the case study, participant observation was carried out and interviews with the novice entrepreneur, the firm’s employees and its customers were conducted.

Developing mutually beneficial relationships with customers and key partners can enable a novice entrepreneur with no prior business ownership and limited marketing experience to accumulate and mobilise resources in order to achieve credibility and business growth. By analysing information from the NTBF’s entrepreneur, customers and other actors, the authors build theory and present propositions relating to the RM process.

This case illustrates that RM can enhance the legitimacy of an inexperienced entrepreneur, and can enable a firm to address the liabilities of newness in a rural resource-constrained context. Entrepreneurs need to focus on relevant and specialised partnership and alliance relationships that can provide strategic resources for firm development. The bilingual influence has also been shown to aid the development of new relationships and thus ensuring social embeddedness.

The theoretical contribution of this study is to integrate insights from both RM and social embeddedness theories, and illustrate the extent to which a NTBF demonstrates social embeddedness benefits relating to customer retention and accumulation of strategic resources due to RM.

BASED ON TWO POSTAL surveys in 1995 and 1997 of care management practitioners in Wales, this paper examines practitioners' perceptions of change in work roles and tasks over time. Assessment tasks are taking up increasing amounts of care management practitioner time leading to a corresponding decrease in the time set aside for arranging services and for direct work with clients. The results are claims of de‐skilling and the likelihood of a more administrative style of working.

The purpose of this paper is to trace debates between state and federal governments, and community stakeholders, leading to the establishment and abolition of the first attempt at a university for Western Sydney, established as Chifley University Interim Council.

The historical analysis draws from published papers, oral history accounts, and original documents in archives of the University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney.

Higher education reform in the 1980s in Australia was fought out as an extension of broader issues such as “States rights”, the rising political power of peri‐urban regions, long‐standing tensions between state and Commonwealth bureaucracies, and the vested interests of existing tertiary education and community groups.

This is the only existing study of attempts to found Chifley University, and one of the few available studies which take a social and contextual approach to understanding the critical reforms of the 1980s leading up to the Dawkins Reforms of 1988‐1990.

Based on a postal survey in 1995 of all front‐line staff in Wales with an assessment and/or care management role, findings are reported about how tasks and roles were operationalised following the full introduction of the new community care in April 1993. Further information was obtained by interviews with managers in health and social services. Only a fifth of social services posts were designated or titled as care management posts. The majority of these workers were located in services for elderly and physically disabled people. Although few had a specific budget, the majority considered that they had greater control over financial resources than before April 1993. The analysis of tasks undertaken by front‐line staff shows that there remains a broad overlap between the roles of care managers and social workers. The results highlight the nature of increasing demands on staff and raise issues about the impact of increased workloads and administration on service quality. They also highlight tensions between care management and traditional professional roles. Some pointers for continuing debate are provided.

The purpose of this paper is to study gender differentials in scientific productivity while looking at academic discipline and advisor practices. The natural sciences and the liberal arts are shown to constitute two organisational cultures which affect the ability of women to attain excellence on a par with men.

The empirical study is based on a sample of 660 doctoral students in two universities in Israel. Regression procedures were employed to predict productivity.

There is a slight gender gap in scientific productivity, but only in single‐authored papers. This suggests that publishing together with an advisor – which is the common practice in the natural sciences – is more conducive to gender parity. Students' reports suggest that their advisors evince little differential treatment of men versus women, thereby ruling out the possibility of overt advisor bias against women. Overall, the natural sciences appear to be more supportive of students' success while the liberal arts seem to challenge students to struggle on their own, putting women in greater jeopardy of suffering family‐work tensions.

Universities need to appreciate the disciplinary differences within them and help students to get greater support in the “natural selection” mechanisms that are often unconsciously employed in higher education.

This paper adds an important angle in appreciating currently dominant approaches to work‐family balances while focusing on unintended exclusionary mechanisms embedded in the standards and culture of different scientific disciplines.