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The objective of this research was to compare the behavior of two methods of managing an engineering change request (ECR) process, namely, perform changes as they occur or in a batch.

This comparison was accomplished by creating a computer model of a new product development (NPD) process and simulating ECR management. The model connects process design and process characteristics (teamwork, parallel activities) to process outcomes (development time, effort). The first method executes the ECR promptly and the rework is done as soon as the ECR is initiated. In the second method, ECRs are batched; in other words, a number of them are accumulated, and processing of the ECRs takes place when a batch of a certain size has accumulated. Thus, the change requests are grouped into a batch, and then, the section(s) of the process to effect the change(s) is (are) reworked.

Batching ECRs was found to be superior to doing them one at a time.

Future work should focus on refining the computer model and differentiating ECRs by assigning priorities to incoming ECRs.

For product development managers, processing ECRs in batches is preferable than attending to them on an individual basis. Nevertheless, in some situations ECRs require immediate attention. A mechanism will always be needed to deal with situations directly. Also, in terms of batching, ECRs could be processed in groups on a periodic basis. Periodically performing ECRs due to new design versions or prototypes in a timely manner is a good compromise between a random batch mode and doing them individually.

The paper shows that batch processing is superior to executing ECRs promptly as they are received. This result has been shown through the use of a computer model of NPD. To the authors' knowledge, no other studies have used computer modeling to study this problem.

The objective of this paper is to present results of the study of the quality costing practices at four large successful multinational companies.

The method of benchmarking was used for the purpose of this study. Company representatives, who were invited for a benchmarking session, described the quality management programs running at their companies. Direct observation and archival records data collection were also used to extract more precise information for the following analysis and discussion.

The findings of the study show that all four companies use systematic quality initiatives; however, a formal cost of quality (CoQ) methodology was only employed at one of them. This is in agreement with the literature findings arguing that a CoQ approach is not utilized in most quality management programs.

This paper discusses and compares the quality programs of four companies and explains the benefits of the eventual adoption of a CoQ approach in each case. The analysis provides a new insight into company practice, useful both for academic research and industry.

This paper aims to present a survey of published literature about various quality costing approaches and reports of their success in order to provide a better understanding of cost of quality (CoQ) methods.

The paper's approach is a literature review and discussion of the issues surrounding quality costing approaches.

Even though the literature review shows an interest by the academic community, a CoQ approach is not utilized in most quality management programs. The evidence presented shows that companies that do adopt CoQ methods are successful in reducing quality costs and improving quality for their customers. The survey shows that the method most commonly implemented is the classical prevention‐appraisal‐failure model; however, other quality cost models are used with success as well.

The paper shows that the selected CoQ model must suit the situation, the environment, the purpose and the needs of the company in order to have a chance to become a successful systematic tool in a quality management program.

The purpose of this paper is to review some uncertainties experienced by a group of CEs, and how they are assuaged through their participation in an executive development (ED) programme. These uncertainties relate both to their involvement in the programme as such, particularly during their early days of membership, and to their everyday work experience.

An in‐depth, longitudinal case study of an ED programme undertaken by the authors, using participant observation, semi‐structured interviews and documentary analysis.

Five main CE uncertainties are identified: knowledge, job/career, behavioural, personal, and contextual. The case study section of the paper outlines each of these uncertainties, and illustrates how they are being assuaged through the CE programme.

The usual caveats apply about generalising from a case study. On the other hand, the paper presents a rare detailed “insider” account of and reflection upon chief executives' experience of an ED programme, situating it in the wider contexts of their work and anxieties.

In the light of the uncertainties identified, a number of implications for the design and operation of executive development programmes are outlined and discussed.

New data is presented and analysed, linked to relevant themes in the ED/Leadership Development literatures.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive initial evaluation of the wealth transfer hypothesis as applied to the second‐stage events and announcements that follow carve‐outs during the period from 1983 to 2004.

Using daily security prices, such combinations are shown to have multi‐faceted wealth transfers and wealth creation.

In contrast with the wealth losses found in previous studies, wealth increases are observed for parent stockholders and bondholders in the spin‐off announcement and event phases for combination carve‐outs and spin‐offs. Also, the spin‐off is the most prevalent second divestiture choice for parents with traded debt.

This study makes several contributions to the literature. First, in contrast with recent wealth transfer studies that use monthly bond returns, daily stock and bond returns are used to examine the wealth effect for parent stockholders and bondholders during the announcement and ex‐dates of second‐stage events. Second, in contrast with previous studies that found a wealth transfer from bondholders to stockholders in the spin‐off phase, statistically significant wealth retention was observed for bondholders and for stockholders at spin‐off and other second event announcements. Third, the results reflect that increased collateral from the carve‐out phase lessens the potential for bondholder wealth loss in the spin‐off phase.

This research interrogates how the construction of narratives and accounting forecasts contributes to managing the emotional state of actors involved in reporting meetings by promoting discourses of hope in their organization's future, mitigating their anxiety. This study shows how narratives are built from multiple antenarratives and accounting forecasts, which restore and strengthen organizational actors' commitment to their organizations. This study contributes to a better understanding of the role played by narratives and accounting documents in mitigating organizational members' anxiety.

Over eight months, an interventionist research design method gave one of the authors the opportunity to record discussions held during reporting meetings in a business incubator. These recordings captured the production of narratives and forecasts in these meetings.

This study shows how the production of multiple antenarratives and accounting forecasts helps organizational actors who attend reporting meetings mitigate the anxiety triggered by disappointing performance figures and restore collective discourses full of hope for the organization's future. This case highlights how personal antenarratives and successive versions of accounting forecasts contribute to restoring a collective commitment to a failing organization.

This study refines current understanding of the under-explored links between accounting forecasts, narratives and anxiety management. The study provides insight into how accounting practices contribute to the production of narratives that successfully restore organizational members' commitment to working for a failing organization. The study also exemplifies the original insights gained from interventionist research protocols.

Wireless communication, comprising telecommunication industry products and services which move voice, video, data, and graphics at the speed of the electron, is the back bone of the Internet. We have today a wireless world which two Chief ‘Ntrepreneur Officers (CNOs)‐American Sam Ginn (AirTouch) and Britisher Chris Gent (Vodafone)‐created by their Memory Management during the 16 years between Olympics in Los Angeles (1984) and Olympics in Sydney (2000).

The purpose of this paper is to argue and explore how local meaning-making processes of leaders also occur in embodied and affective registers. The paper aims to introduce the theoretical concept of affect to studies of local public leadership.

The paper reports from an ethnographic study of local leaders managing educational institutions in Denmark. The paper takes a constructivist or interpretive approach where it is acknowledged that data is not just out-there ready to be collected and reported but is constructed and interpreted in particular manners as part of the complex encounter between researcher and field.

The paper zooms in one particular instance where a leader breaks down in tears and where the tears seem to evoke a particular affective atmosphere. Thus, the paper shows how, just below the elite narrative of a need for stronger, individual and more evidence-based management, we find a myriad of meaning-making processes that transgress distinctions between the corporeal, affective and discursive.

As an ethnography conducted in a local setting, the paper avoids broad generalisations. The findings reflect the theoretical ambition of discussing the role of embodiment and affect in local leadership as much as the studied setting.

The study testify to how policy implementation can take many unexpected turns as local leaders interpret and make sense of policy ambitions in many different ways. Moreover, it testifies to how leaders are informed by embodied experiences and affective atmospheres in their sense-making processes.

The paper is one of the first attempts in public leadership to discuss the role of embodiment and affect in local public leadership.