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Explores the theoretical context of quality and quality assurance in health care through a detailed review of the current literature. Outlines the definitions of quality and quality assurance. Identifies the two structural elements of quality assurance: quality assessment and quality improvement and control. Explores in some detail the elements of health care which are capable of assessment and the relationships between them. Finally, considers the mechanisms which can be used to improve health care if deficiencies are highlighted.

Outlines the development of the profession of podiatry, and its regulatory bodies. Highlights areas of podiatric practice which are currently under scrutiny in terms of the quality of care being delivered to the patient. Considers the position of this profession in relation to the recent changes in health care in the United Kingdom and the possibility of changes in the finding of podiatric education, these changes being a direct result of the 1989 NHS Review. Finally, makes certain recommendations designed to inform and assist the profession of podiatry in the development of a cohesive quality assurance strategy, such a strategy being central to the effective delivery of health care in the NHS of the 1990s.

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are routinely offered in organizational policy, yet employee access to FWAs is highly dependent upon support from their immediate supervisor. There is little empirical research that specifically investigates the role of the human resource function (HR) in supporting managers to implement FWA policy. Through the lens of HR systems theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine how HR supports managers to implement FWAs.

Using a case study in the Australian Insurance industry, this paper analyzes corporate documents and interviews with 47 managers, supervisors and HR staff across four diverse business units.

This study identifies supervisors’ perceived ability to implement FWAs as a potential barrier to utilization. Five mechanisms of HR support to overcome perceived barriers are identified in the data. An HR system that enables managers to support FWAs requires alignment of HR policies; the provision of supportive technology; an HR structure that facilitates proactive advice and support; HR business partners with influence; and managerial training on FWAs.

This paper provides HR practitioners with insights into the mechanisms that can support managers to implement FWAs or other devolved HR policies.

Applying HR systems theory, this case study utilizes the perspectives of senior managers, supervisors and HR staff to explain how the HR function supports or constrains managers in the effective implementation of FWAs.

This study aims to understand New Zealand sheep farmers’ readiness toward sustainability transition by assessing their intentions of transition and adoption of sustainability tools, with information collection considered to mediate the intention–adoption relationship.

Based on the data collected from a survey of New Zealand sheep farmers in 2021, the empirical analysis was developed to investigate farmers’ perceptions of and attitudes toward readiness to move toward a sustainability transition. Structural equation modeling associated with principal component analysis was used to empirically test the theory of planned behavior constructs.

The results show that pressure from the public and the sheep industry, and the perceived controls of transition drive the intention of sustainability transition; farmers with higher intention of sustainability transition are found to be more likely to adopt sustainability tools. However, there is an attitude–behavior gap, wherein positive attitudes toward sustainability transition may not lead to a higher likelihood of adopting sustainability tools. There is no evidence of the mediating role of information collection on the intention–adoption relationship, while a positive effect was found in information collection on the adoption of sustainability tools.

The empirical evidence indicates that policymakers need to help increase the awareness of sustainable production and help farmers overcome barriers to achieving sustainable production by finding ways to turn intentions into adoption.

Being the first attempt to empirically assess farmers’ readiness toward sustainability transition, the study fills the gap of limited understanding of the link between sustainability transition intention and sustainable tools adoption in sustainability transition.