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The concept of publishing as an occupation indulged in by rather eccentric individuals, remote from the classroom, or by bright young men and women seeking to teach old dogs new tricks continues to exist only in the minds of those who have not had anything to do with publishing during the last few years.

Educational publishers come in all shapes and sizes, and compose a recognizable group only in the sense that they are all intent on selling books to the education market. They are given some specific classification through group three of the Publishers' Association (shortly to be reformed, rationalized and strengthened), but it is difficult even among the 70odd full members to see much common ground among, for example, Rivingtons, whose Latin primers make up a show case in Evans Bros, and the giants like Macmillan and Longmans, or the various components of IPC. Confusion was less confounded twenty years ago when a smaller number, specifically engaged in turning out 30‐to‐a‐class type text books, could be more obviously classified as ‘educational’, and felt that among themselves there was a common bond of serious involvement. This last may or may not have been confused with an exchange of gentlemanly pleasantries in an atmosphere of comparative security.

States that experiential learning, action learning and action research have long been recognized as among the most effective means of acquiring professional education and training. Few tertiary programmes, however, choose to give attention to such “learning by doing”, giving emphasis instead to traditional lecturing and information gathering (highly analytical) approaches. One programme which takes a strong experiential learning approach is the postgraduate project management course conducted at the Queensland University of Technology. The project management course recognizes and aims to develop the technical, financial and legal knowledge and skills, and the specialist people knowledge and practical process skills required to practise effectively as a project manager. Shared expertise comes from the host School of Construction Management and from the School of Social Science. Describes the course and indicates a balance given in training to the academic analytical requirements and to the use of experiential learning and self‐development exercises. These include indoor exercises aimed at developing knowledge of options, the use of questionnaires and the use of outdoor exercises at off‐campus camps aimed at developing self‐ and other‐awareness. Roughly 40 per cent of the course is taught through a mix of experiential and lecturing presentation; the remaining 60 per cent is more traditional in the teaching of the legal and other technical and financial requirements. Discusses the success of the experiential approach for teaching the people side of project management.

With the growth in teamworking, organizations are increasingly turning to team role models in the hope of enhancing the effectiveness of their teams. However, such models can be both expensive to buy‐in and administer. Examines significant similarities between the two major team role models ‐ Belbin and TMS models. Argues that if the two systems/assessments can be used interchangeably, organizations could make considerable savings in both time and money. Finds no simple, direct correspondence between the two models (despite close congruence between the role behavioural indicators). Finds a small degree of predictability in some roles (none in others, especially the “creative” and “leadership” roles). Suggests that generally, the Belbin roles do tend to gravitate towards the relevant quadrant of the TMS wheel, but not directly to an identifiable role. Proposes that further research is needed to see if this tendency is a robust and significant finding.

Consideration of Belbin’s team role model led to the view that some of the roles proposed might require the exercise of control, but others much less so. A hypothesis which indicated which roles might be expected to manifest expressed and wanted control was developed and then tested using Schutz’s FIRO‐B questionnaire. A mixture of graduates in employment and undergraduates still at university were utilised as subjects for the investigation. After consideration of the validity of Schutz’s constructs, the data obtained were construed as supporting the hypothesis and adding weight to the claims for the validity of the Belbin team role model.

Discusses the Total Quality culture of Harvester restaurants, concentrating on training to achieve the company′s mission of delivering a high quality service to its guests. Outlines the importance of teamwork in the programme, and provides a case study of the executive team, showing how the system works in practice.

The aim of this study is to broaden the understanding of the set of knowledge, skills, attributes and experience (KSAE) that teams should demonstrate and the necessary roles they need to play within the team in Relational Contracting (RC). This research seeks to answer three questions: first, what KSAEs are required in a team operating under RC, second, which of the identified KSAEs are more important to enable an integrated team to perform effectively and third, how do these required KSAEs correspond to the major role clusters identified in Belbin’s team role model?

In-depth interviews with 25 experts and key management representatives in infrastructure construction in Australia were conducted to enable detailed discussion of the research questions.

Sixteen behavioural traits and four knowledge and experience areas were identified. The findings highlight that in RC, team members and especially leaders and managers need to be competent in people-oriented roles, above all others.

This research mainly captured the perspectives of personnel working in state government infrastructure departments. Further research is recommended to explore the perceptions of employees in private construction companies.

By aligning the roles required for RC with the team role clusters of the Belbin’s team roles assessment tool, this study will be useful for identifying suitable members to form high-performance project teams.

The findings of this paper can inform government infrastructure organisations and construction companies as to which roles are more critical when selecting fit-for-purpose teams to successfully deliver large infrastructure projects procured under the RC method.

Belbin′s Self‐Perception Inventory (SPI) has become a standard trainers′ tool. Interplace II has developed the original concepts, ironed out the weaknesses of the SPI and made progress in the field of team building. Examples are given of the specific assistance that can be obtained from the program, together with useful pointers for new users.

This monograph summarises the key influences of leadership behaviour on the transformation process associated with creation of an effective and high performing team. It clarifies the key factors that are relevant to a team at each stage of the transformation process and the leadership roles that each team member can play. The role of an organisation's senior management is considered both in terms of the impact it has on the transformation process within specific teams and in terms of creating the necessary organisational environment to make effective teams the norm. Some reasons why senior management behaviour is often perceived as inconsistent and unhelpful are explored. Specific recommendations are made to help senior managers to adapt their behaviour, and in so doing become more context‐sensitive to the needs of the environment as it changes. Some tools and techniques are presented that have been found in practice to help senior managers adapt their behaviour to that most appropriate at a given time, and to create the organisational infrastructure needed to make effective teams the organisational norm rather than the exception. A case study is presented illustrating the networked nature of leadership and the culture change associated with making effective teams “the way we do things around here.”