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The aim of this paper is to give a critical assessment of a study designed to investigate the potential of a new method for teaching HRD students about performance appraisal. It is argued that this approach is in the vanguard of developments in IT and learning.

The paper takes the form of an explorative study which is undertaken in the context of a virtual world setting.

There is potential value added for HRD teaching and learning using virtual world technology. Subjects identified strengths and weaknesses in their use of Second Life© for performance appraisal skills training. Importantly, there was some evidence that subjects emotionally identified with their online characters, with potential implications for the impact of training. Necessary adjustments to research methods are identified.

This was a small scale study. Initial enquiry will inform larger scale research.

The model gives HRD students scope to practice different roles in performance appraisal and, in the longer term, to experiment with “ways of being”. Subjects could be mentored during their engagement in the appraisal process, enabling active tutoring for skill development. Also, a variety of teaching strategies could be employed such as exploring cultural aspects and engaging students in peer‐to‐peer teaching.

The paper presents an innovative method, blending IT with a more conventional training concept, role‐play.

The objective of the pilot study reported on here was to identify some of the more elusive “costs and benefits” of work‐based learning (WBL) placements. This was addressed by exploring the views and experience of a small number of human resource development (HRD) professionals who currently offer supervised work‐based learning placements to full‐time post‐graduate HRD students.

The small qualitative study outlined was a pilot, focused initially on the perceptions of one set of stakeholders within the placement process, the HRD professionals. By means of questionnaires and interviews the participants were invited to reflect on their interpretation of the tangible and intangible costs and benefits to the organisation, the supervisor/mentor, the student and the university.

The findings imply that there are a number of non‐financial costs and benefits that may not be widely recognised but which may have significance when seeking/agreeing placement opportunities.

This is a small‐scale study, and may have limited transferability.

In due course the study will be extended to examine the perspectives of other stakeholders.

Evidence from the literature suggests that obtaining and sustaining good quality WBL placements can be difficult. A reflection on potential “non standard” costs and benefits may assist organisations to weigh up these more ephemeral but potentially important factors and aid decision‐making about the viability and desirability of offering WBL placements and at the same time develop awareness of non‐standard costs and benefits amongst those seeking to set up placements for their students.

Sociologists view the family, the most basic unit of social organization, as the cornerstone of society. As societies continue to evolve, social changes such as urbanization produce changed family structures. This has recently happened in Zimbabwe, creating new family forms such as the “small house practice”: the trend among married men to maintain a single woman as a quasi-permanent sexual partner outside official marriage. This relationship is considered subsidiary (small) compared to the official marriage; yet, it is important to the welfare of both man practicing it and the unmarried woman being looked after. The study focused on the development of the “small house practice” in Zimbabwe and its impact on the traditional family unit. The economic crisis in Zimbabwe, between 2000 and 2010, in particular, affected families negatively and also led to the proliferation of the small house. The study reveals that the family unit in Zimbabwe continues to evolve.

The purpose of this paper is to examine support needs of African refugee new parents in Canada, and identifies support preferences that may enhance the mental health of refugee parents and children.

In all, 72 refugee new parents from Zimbabwe (n=36) and Sudan (n=36) participated in individual interviews. All had a child aged four months to five years born in Canada. Refugee new parents completed standardized measures on social support resources and support seeking as a coping strategy. Four group interviews (n=30) with refugee new parents were subsequently conducted. In addition, two group interviews (n=30) were held with service providers and policy influencers.

Separated from their traditional family and cultural supports, refugee new parents reported isolation and loneliness. They lacked support during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum and had limited interactions with people from similar cultural backgrounds. Refugees required support to access services and overcome barriers such as language, complex systems, and limited financial resources. Support preferences included emotional and information support from peers from their cultural community and culturally sensitive service providers.

Psychometric evaluation of the quantitative measures with the two specific populations included in this study had not been conducted, although these measures have been used with ethnically diverse populations by other researchers.

The study findings can inform culturally appropriate health professional practice, program and policy development.

The study bridges gaps in research examining support needs and support intervention preferences of African refugee new parents.

Parental illness can affect child and adolescent psychosocial well‐being. Mental health effects of parental bereavement generally and HIV‐related bereavement specifically have been poorly explored in children. HIV‐related illness has a number of specific features that may directly affect mental health considerations. Infection is clustered in families. Bereavement is often multiple. Death is often preceded by severe illness and multiple opportunistic infections. AIDS is stigmatised, which may impede disclosure, social support and adjustment. In low‐income countries where HIV infection is concentrated, access to palliative care as well as medical care may be limited. This review systematically identifies studies on HIV and bereavement in children. Searches of electronic databases for relevant articles revealed 14 studies examining bereavement with sufficient measurement and controlled methodology providing standardised behavioural and emotional outcome measures. Scrutiny of the results revealed the majority (12: 86%) recorded an adverse behavioural or emotional impact on the child. A detailed analysis of the studies provides insights to risks as well as protective factors that may inform future interventions. Only one systematic intervention was identified whereby a coping skills intervention had positive and long‐lasting effects. This paper examines urgent future needs and the requirement for evidence‐based policy and provision.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between tax evasion, political/public corruption and increased taxation in Zimbabwe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The study as a descriptive survey used questionnaires and interviews as research instruments for collecting data.

The findings revealed that most SMEs are no longer paying some form of taxes as expected since the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced the 2% tax levy on all bank electronic transactions greater than US$10 from October 2018.

The paper recommends that the government should create an independent anti-corruption committee with strong monitoring and regulatory mechanism so as to fight political/public corruption; hence, creating a paradigm of trust and confidence among different economic players. Lastly, the tax authorities should engage all the key economic players when crafting the country’s tax laws/rates so as to promote a sense of equity, equality and economic transparency among citizens.