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The purpose of this paper is to critique current epistemologies of knowledge and intellectual capital, and provide a way forward within an integrated framework.

The principles of linguistic philosophy and semiotics provide the basis for a rigorous analysis of the production of signs and of knowledge. The Knowledge Process Cycle is used to explore this further, to analyse how different types of communities produce a range of different kinds of information and knowledge, and to formulate a more coherent, theoretically rigorous epistemology.

The current epistemological confusions can be resolved, by taking into account the arbitrary and conventional nature of signs, and the different epistemological requirements of the different phases of the Knowledge Cycle.

This research focuses on the confusions around “objectivist” and “interpretivist” epistemologies, and on how an analysis of the articulations of the various phases of the knowledge process cycle can resolve these confusions. A more detailed analysis of strategic knowledge and communities of practice will be explored in further research.

Both knowledge management (KM) and intellectual capital (IC) will benefit from a resolution of the confusions surrounding the roles of “objectivist” and “interpretivist” epistemologies, and from a more nuanced understanding of the production of knowledge. Reporting on IC would benefit from finer distinctions, and from a more rigorous epistemology.

The paper brings together concepts and analytical tools from different disciplines (KM, IC, applied linguistics, linguistic philosophy, and semiotics) to develop a new approach to the epistemology of knowledge and intellectual capital.

The process of small business establishment is examined in a step by step approach with reference to John Williams. Initially, the entrepreneurial focus is considered and the case study leads to the examination of entrepreneurial traits. Some facts relating to the owners personal situation are given. As opportunities appear they are also presented for decision‐making purposes and these lead into marketing issues such as customer identification, environmental influences and the marketing mix variables. As the case study concludes, it establishes a focus on the future direction of the firm, bearing in mind a record of sales 23% above target for the first year. There are four assignment stages, each of which is free‐standing: the start‐up decision; preparation of a business plan; marketing planning; and planning for growth. The learning experience of this case study is broad and it has been specifically developed to suit a wide range of readers from academic and non‐academic backgrounds.

The purpose of this article is to revisit the key terms in knowledge management (KM), particularly tacit and explicit, to develop a better framework for a theoretical and practical understanding of KM.

With the help of concepts like articulation and discourse, borrowed from applied linguistics, the relationships between data, information, the components of information in its various forms, knowledge and narrative are explored, to develop an integrated framework for the understanding of the complexities of the domain of knowledge management.

This study rovides a detailed assessment of the contribution of the tacit/explicit distinction to the KM debate. Develops new distinctions between formal and ante‐formal information, procedural information and contextual analysis, a model of the process of developing objective information, and a model of knowledge as an articulation of procedural information and contextual analysis.

The usefulness of the framework will only be tested when it is applied in research and in management practice. This will depend on whether the concepts and terms introduced here find their way into more common usage.

The study provides a useful framework and set of tools for understanding and managing the various different aspects of information, knowledge, intellectual capital, and competitive intelligence.

The paper brings together concepts and analytical tools from different disciplines (KM, applied linguistics, semiotics) to develop a new framework for analyzing how the component elements of KM articulate with each other. In more detail, the paper unpacks the relationships between ante‐formal and formal information, procedural information and contextual analysis, the processes of objectification of information and the formation of knowledge, and the notion of knowledge as inherently narrative.

In spite of its enthusiasm for cuts in public spending and social provision, the government has not yet wielded the axe to lop off significant sums from the MSC Youth Opportunity Programme (YOP) for the young unemployed. The reason is all too clear. There is every prospect that even more school‐leavers will soon find themselves on the scrap‐heap of rejects before ever being allowed to participate in purposeful employment. No government can contemplate such a scene without appearing to react, if only because of its possible explosive social and political consequences. Hence, this administration (like that in many other countries) continues to sanction various schemes designed to provide young unemployed with some positive form of work experience, even while they cannot find paid employment. Nearly 100,000 youngsters were involved last year.

Ellis + Everard have appointed Mel Reid to take charge of their Specialities Marketing Division.

Classifies controllable or internal factors influencing family business transitions into three groups: preparation level of the heirs, family relationships, and planning and control activities. To assess the impact of each set of factors on the ease of generational transitions and subsequent family business performance, a cross‐sectional survey was directed at owner/ managers of second‐ and third‐generation family businesses. Suggests that, in successful transitions, heirs are reasonably well‐prepared, family relationships tend to be positive, and succession planning and related control activities are relatively informal. Of these three, trust and communication in family relationships appears to have the most significant impact on transitions. Draws managerial implications and makes suggestions for ongoing research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the development and nature of organized crime in the USA over the past 50 years, emphasizing organized crime's corruption and victimization of legitimate businesses and describing law enforcement's efforts to combat organized crime through specific case studies.

First, the paper analyzes the control over and corruption of legitimate businesses in the USA by the La Cosa Nostra (“LCN,” or the American Mafia), including the following industries: Las Vegas gaming; moving and storage; garment; waste – hauling; and, construction, and the following unions: the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Laborers International Union of North America; and, the International Longshoreman's Association. The paper also describes law enforcement's successful efforts to combat such corruption through the use of criminal and civil racketeering laws and specific prosecutions. The paper then discusses the emergence in the mid‐1980s of non‐traditional organized crime groups in the USA, including various Asian ethnic groups and large‐scale human trafficking organizations that impact Europe and Asia as well as the USA.

The non‐traditional criminal groups not only prey on the legitimate businesses in ethnic Asian communities in the USA, but they also engage in complex crimes, alien smuggling, drug trafficking, credit‐card frauds, money laundering, and other financial crimes. There has emerged a new era for organized crime that began in the 1990s with the fall of the former Soviet Union and the emergence of transnational organized crime groups emanating from the nations comprising the former Soviet Bloc. These organized crime groups engage in a wide variety of economic crimes including extortion, fraud, illicit appropriation of natural resources, and public corruption. Such extensive corruption threatens the stability of some of these emerging nations.

This paper will be valuable to law enforcement offices and policy makers to assist them to understand the scope and nature of organized crime's adverse effects upon businesses and economic interests and to develop tools to combat such criminal activities.

This is a very complete review of the research work carried out on the very important subject of E.P. Lubricants. In this work Dr. Davey has himself taken a very prominent part. No one is therefore more capable of preparing this very valuable contribution than he.

A survey is presented of the use of unobtrusive testing techniques to measure reference enquiry answering performance, emphasising research carried out in Britain. British studies reveal similar performance figures to those obtained by American studies; the average succes rate here also being only about 55 per cent. Possible developments in the use of the techniques to aid user service research and management are suggested, and the limitations of unobtrusive testing methods are considered. The improvement of enquiry answering performance would seem to lie in better training of library staff in communication skills.

During the academic session 1991/92, a project was carried out to review the strategic and operational management of the staffed public information points in the Library and Information Services at Aston University. Three main methods were used: an analysis of enquiries; a staff attitudes survey; and a customer survey. The main results which emerged were that staff perceived that there was no‐one with overall management responsibility for the service that an on‐going training programme for information point staff should be introduced; and that most customers were satisfied with the existing quality of service and approachability of the staff. Consequently, the Head of Information Services has assumed strategic and operational responsibility for the service; a rolling training programme for staff has been introduced; and a Quality Circle has been established to formulate a Customer Care Policy, and to produce recommendations for continuous improvement of the service.