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The paper summarises the key elements contained in recent proposals to revise the Basel Accord on bank capital and associated European Union requirements. A major consultative paper was issued by the Basel Committee in January this year and it is intended that the new rules will be finalised next year following a further round of consultation. The paper outlines the rationale for the revisions, in particular the need to combine a more risk‐sensitive approach without encouraging a reduction in capital adequacy within the banking system.

Under the Supporting People Programme, low‐level ‘floating’ support is available to help vulnerable people live independently in their own accommodation. There is a good deal of research to indicate that this sort of support, particularly in social housing, is effective in helping people to sustain their tenancies, and that their well‐being and self‐esteem are improved as a result. However, there is little empirical evidence on the overall health impact of support. As part of a broader evaluation of a floating support service, this longitudinal study used the SF‐36 health questionnaire, complemented by in‐depth interviews, and found evidence of health gain.

The support plan is central to the Supporting People programme. A service user without one is not eligible for funding, and it forms a core objective of the formal Quality Assessment Framework. This article suggests not only that many support plans are not in place, but also that others are implemented poorly. This is a missed opportunity to deliver high‐calibre services, be accountable to the service user and address some of the key factors which make for a successful outcome.

Research into the antecedents of TMT conflict has become increasingly popular in light of the effects that conflict can have on strategic decision making and organizational performance. Of course, such performance becomes a part of the contextual backdrop against which future decisions are made. Thus, organizational performance is itself an important antecedent of TMT conflict. Using data drawn from the TMTs of 44 mid‐sized public firms, we demonstrate that cognitive and affective conflict relate differently to past performance. The implications of this research for efforts to effectively manage conflict during strategic decision making are discussed.

This account of a field experience is written in the form of a reverie, to match the conditions that gave rise to it. It emerges from my long-term study of the Burning Man festival, a massive countercultural communal celebration of aesthetic immediacy held annually in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. Marked by the suspension of ordinary commerce in favor of a gift economy, the spectacle culminates in the torching of an enormous effigy. This experimental ethnography follows in the symbolic interactionist tradition of an earlier tale told by Andrea Fontana.11Fontana, Andrea (2001), “Salt Fever: An Ethnographic Narrative in Four Sections,” Studies in Symbolic Interaction, 24: 147–163.“Urethral awakening dream.”

OPAL — Organic Pollutant Alarm Immediate detection of volatile organic materials in water and effluent is now possible using the new OPAL — Organic Pollution Alarm — from Cavendish Applied Technology.

As companies become increasingly interested in doing business within Eastern bloc countries, ordinary issues critical to success will be of paramount importance. Although the basic principles and rationale used and the factors involved in investment decisions such as site selection will not change, the relative importance of the factors, particularly those that are intangible and constantly changing, could be drastically different. Reviews the factors to consider when venturing into these newly independent states, presents examples and offers suggestions for US firms considering Eastern bloc locations for expansion.