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Outlines some of the benefits that can arise through partnership working between higher education institutions and other local organisations in the environment sector. Aims to contribute to the debate on sustainability by highlighting the capacity for partnerships to “unlock” value retained within single organisations. Argues for the need for more creativity in the ways in which HEIs interact with other organisations in the environment sector, in order to harness mutually‐advantageous opportunities. The situation in Northamptonshire (central England) is described and case studies are included to demonstrate some local successful partnership‐based projects and to highlight the wider approach. Suggests this approach can offer considerable scope for the personal development of academics and to benefit HEIs, the local communities they serve and the economies they operate within. States, in addition, that partnership working can significantly contribute to the process of sustainable management within HEIs and external organisations by promoting the effective use of human resources, information and finance for environmentally beneficial activity.

An extensive radon remediation programme in National Health Service properties in Northamptonshire has been conducted since 1992 and has resulted in many buildings with raised levels being identified and remediated. In the autumn of 1997, several of the remediated properties were surveyed in order to determine the viability of the remedial measures and the dose reduction to staff. The initial assumption that reduction factors in radon levels would be greater than reduction factors in radiation dose per person was partially confirmed. This was due to the part‐time working patterns of staff and their mobility during working hours.

Mitigation of radon gas and radon progeny in buildings is based largely on reducing the pressure difference between the point of the radiation source and the point of entry to indoor air. The method is adopted in the mitigation of excess radon concentrations with the installation of a sump arrangement, relieving the pressure emanating from the sub‐soil. However, this proved ineffective in reducing radon levels in a large retail store, whereas the utilisation of the existing air‐conditioning/ventilation system was wholly effective in meeting legal norms for the workplace. The initial study found that the reduction in radon levels brought about by the operation of the system was in absolute terms, and the rate of reduction was a constant which allowed an accurate estimate of the levels at a point in time from the start‐up of the system. Importantly, the operation of the air‐movement system reduced the progeny level substantially, relative to the radon gas.

Northamptonshire is classified as a radon affected area, with greater than 1 per cent of houses being above the UK action level of 200Bq/m^–3. New houses, in areas where >10 per cent are above the action level, have to have primary protection of a radon‐proof membrane and secondary measures such as a non‐activated radon sump. New houses, in areas where 3‐10 per cent are above the action level only need the secondary measures. This research calls into question the effectiveness of this strategy. The use of radon potential maps, rather than radon in building maps, would have demonstrated that radon “hot spots”, where a very high percentage of houses are over the action level, can occur on a range of geology. One estate, at Higham Ferrers, had 35 per cent over the action level, even though it had been classified as only requiring secondary measures. The reluctance of occupiers in the UK to instigate monitoring and remediation means that very few will have their house tested for radon and activate the sump, by fitting a fan, if that is required. This paper provides arguments that support the view that it would be more effective to have primary and secondary measures introduced in all new houses in radon affected areas.

In the food and retailing sector only 25 per cent of companies were found to operate waste minimisation programmes. The benefits of waste minimisation are well proven in both financial and environmental terms. Large food companies have found they can make savings of millions of pounds by implementing waste minimisation strategies.

In moving towards sustainable wastes management, the UK Government has adopted a wastes hierarchy. This hierarchy sets out clearly the priorities for sustainable resource use and wastes management: it ought to be the guiding principle of private and public policy, with the emphasis placed strongly on reducing the amount of raw material used. The House of Commons Environment, Transport & Regional Affairs Committee has noted a pressing need to promote wastes minimisation within industrial and commercial sectors and has recommended the introduction of penalties and incentives to encourage industrial wastes minimisation. Despite this, in the food and retailing sector only around 25 per cent of companies were found to operate wastes minimisation programmes. This paper aims to demonstrate the benefits of wastes minimisation, in both financial and environmental terms, for the food and drink sector. Large multiprocess food and drink companies have found they can make annual savings of greater than one per cent of turnover by implementing wastes minimisation strategies.

Northamptonshire is classified as a radon affected area, with greater than 1 per cent of domestic dwellings being above the UK Action Level of 200Bq m^‐3. Workplace radon is also a health risk in Northamptonshire, with a significant number of premises being predicted to be above this Action Level (400Bq m^‐3). After an extensive survey in National Health Service premises, using track etch detectors and real time monitoring systems, it was found that certain staff were receiving very high doses ‐ up to around 20mSv. The annual collective dose from radon, in the rooms with elevated levels, was 285mSv, an average of 4.45mSv. After remediation of the rooms the average dose fell to 0.5mSv. The average cost of radon remediation in National Health Service premises was £3,950 per location. This compares to a value of £1,953 for locations in schools in Northamptonshire. It is possible that remediation costs for the majority of small to medium enterprises in the country will, on our conservative estimate of 6 per cent being above the Action Level, be in the region of £1,460,000. Further monitoring of workplace radon is taking place across the county in an attempt to determine more accurately the full extent of the problem.

Fats and oils contain triglycerides that are esters formed between the alcohol glycerol and fatty acids. Unsaturated fatty acids contain carbon‐carbon double bonds. For such a double bond, cisand trans‐isomers are possible. The overwhelming majority of unsaturated fatty acids from plant oils are cis. In margarine manufacture, double bonds are hydrogenated so as to increase the melting points of the oil. A consequence of this is that a proportion of the double bonds remaining becomes trans. The proportion of trans‐fatty acids in some margarines is around 20 per cent. Argues that the implications of this for human health are worrying. Trans‐fatty acids have been implicated as the possible cause of a number of health problems. Recent research has identified that this isomer is the cause of an increased level of low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Purpose – This study is intended to extend scholarship on the management of organizations by examining the long-term performance of orphaned products.

Design/methodology/approach – This study uses the historical context of the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression to examine the long-run appeal (performance) of orphaned products – products from start-ups that fail soon after production. I use this setting to determine how factors within the purview of management, as well as the role of changing tastes, affect the appeal of music from short-lived start-ups founded in 1929 and 1933.

Findings/originality/value – I find that while the evolution of tastes has a substantial effect beyond the control of a firm's managers, a start-up's decision-makers were able to positively influence the long-run appeal of music when they (a) recorded tunes with new artists and (b) were able to create an early big hit with the tune. These results demonstrate how and why, even with cultural producers in one of the greatest economic disasters in U.S. history, managerial decisions were meaningful for product performance. Finally, I show that the effect of being a start-up on the long-run appeal of a tune is time-varying such that being a start-up in 1929 or 1933 does not harm a tune's appeal until after World War II. These final analyses point to further ways in which strategy, history, and sociology might combine to further scholarship on the management of organizations.

In order to succeed in an action under the Equal Pay Act 1970, should the woman and the man be employed by the same employer on like work at the same time or would the woman still be covered by the Act if she were employed on like work in succession to the man? This is the question which had to be solved in Macarthys Ltd v. Smith. Unfortunately it was not. Their Lordships interpreted the relevant section in different ways and since Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome was also subject to different interpretations, the case has been referred to the European Court of Justice.