bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Management clinics
Authors: LAWLOR ALAN
Published: February 2008

need for a new initiative The current crisis in industry seems to have highlighted many problems, some of which have existed for some time. Hardly a day goes by without our being reminded of some fresh calamity. The difficulties range from the need for new products which will create jobs, to the reduction of industrial conflict. Equally, there has been no shortage of people who have not only suggested the causes of our problems, but what we should do about them.
An organisation laboratory in Ghana
Authors: PEDLER MIKE , BOYDELL TOM
Published: February 2008

The objectives of this short article are twofold. Firstly we wish to describe an organisation simulation which we have found useful and which we have not seen written up anywhere else. It is recommended to trainers who want to put an organisational focus into training and development.
A question of organisation
Authors: HARRIS NEVILLE , PALMER EDDIE
Published: February 2008

Social Workers and their time — continuing our account of a project to study how social workers spend their time and how this time could be used more effectively:
At the root of our troubles
Authors: DOBINSON CH
Published: February 2008

The article by Professor Peston, published by The Times Educational Supplement on April 16th is remarkable in a number of ways. Firstly, it deals so little with education, and so much with economics approached from a political and sociological point of view, that one wonders why it was printed in the weekly educational supplement of our leading newspaper. This baffling sense of wonderment is increased by reading and reflecting upon the last paragraph of the article in which the writer, having ‘discovered’ that the root of our troubles lies in the outlook and behaviour of employers, not merely private employers but some of the nationalised industries as well, proceeds to tell employers what they must do in order that our troubles shall be ended. ‘Firms should begin by reforming themselves and treating their employees a little more decently. In a nutshell the blue collar workers should start to be offered white collar conditions, and then management might begin to take a broader view of the interests of the community.’
A journey toward Utopia
Authors: HONEY PETER
Published: February 2008

I must admit to a dream of a Utopian management training situation where there are no courses as such (see ‘Stop the courses I want to get off’, ICT, May 1970) but where getting the job done and learning are genuine twin objectives of equal importance. The concept is reasonable enough. In my Utopia jobs would be designed with equal emphasis on achieving a desired result and on the job holder learning or growing as a result of the experience. Perhaps you think my Utopia has already arrived? Alas, I have not yet found it.
Technological innovation capital and labour
Authors: LOWNDES RICHARD
Published: February 2008

These two cases give accounts of technological innovation in a particular industry, ie bulk cargo handling and containerisation in the port industry. The geographical setting is the Pacific Coast of Northern California, more precisely at Sacramento and at San Francisco. The subject of technological innovation is a vast one, the extent of the port industry along the full length of the Pacific Coast is equally massive, and the complexity of relationships between ports as employers, stevedoring companies, shipping companies, employers' associations, the international union (ILWU) and its various Locals, and other unions, is phenomenal. Thus these two cases are merely tiny snap shots within that huge scenario. The information has been collected from the sources of visits to the locations, technical and specialist literature, and interviews with four individual people representing management and organised labour.
Another look at appraisal
Authors: TUFFIELD DAVID , TERRY PAT
Published: February 2008

It would be hard to say when companies became concerned with appraising their managers' performance. It may be that it has always been a concern, but it has really only manifested itself in formal appraisal methods and systems over the past decade or so. (Doubtless having said that we will be inundated with letters proving that appraisal can be traced back to Plato's ‘Republic’ or the Bible.) However, despite the concern and the large amount of material written and spoken about appraisal, much of what takes place appears to have become an annual form‐filling ritual with little influence, either on the individuals or the organisation. Managers, who are frequently on the receiving end of this ritual, are hard put to identify the usefulness of appraisal, nor are they usually in a position to assess how well an appraisal fits the needs of their particular company. This article is an attempt to describe for managers a framework for examining the usefulness and appropriateness of an appraisal system. The analyses resulting from the framework should help managers to design an appraisal system better suited to the needs of their organisation.
Training in the new legislation
Authors: WELLENS JOHN
Published: February 2008

Since 1965 there have been 30 Acts of Parliament concerned with some aspect of employment; 16 of these have been passed since 1970 and eight in the last two years. One piece of legislation in particular, the Employment Protection Act 1975, has brought fundamental changes in relationships at work. Never before in Britain has there been such an avalanche of industrial legislation. Still to come is the promised (threatened?) Bill on Industrial Democracy — itself likely to bring revolutionary changes in management practice and likely to be pressed through Parliament in a hectic rush to beat any impending change in Government — and there are sure to be any number of minor pieces of amending legislation tidying up after the current rush. This mass of legislation is today largely undigested, despite the fact that it already requires basic changes in company administration and practice. Passing laws, of itself, changes nothing: those involved have to learn how to operate properly in the new circumstances. What is called for now is an immense training exercise to inform all concerned what provisions the new laws contain and to teach people how to work within these new laws. This need applies to managers, foremen, trade union officials, shop stewards, certain functional specialists such as training staff and personnel staff, and, in a broader field, to employees generally. It's a pretty formidable training problem, taking account of the fact that the needs of each of these groups differ from group to group. In terms of sheer size and complexity this is today's number one untackled training problem, but I cannot trace any training board which has earmarked it as such nor can I find any pronouncement of the TSA on this vital topic. It can't stay this way for long: today there must be hundreds of managers breaking the law, unwittingly, every day.
Knowing our pupils
Authors: BROADFOOT PATRICIA M
Published: February 2008

Question such as these are typical of the debate currently sweeping the whole area of 16 + assessement and certification both in England and Scotland. The Schools Council, for example, have put forward a proposal for a common system of examining at 16 + to replace the GCE and CSE. This proposal has been rejected for the moment by the Minister of State for Education, Mrs Shirley Williams. In Scotland, a large and influential committee set up by the Secretary of State for Scotland under the Chairmanship of Mr J Dunning has been deliberating for many months on the form assessment and certification at 16 + should take. This article describes a contribution to this debate in outlining a way in which some of the problems in usefully assessing the young school‐leaver may be overcome.
A new policy for craft training & education for the less able?
Authors: THOROGOOD RF
Published: February 2008

One of the themes of Samuel Butler's novel ‘Erewhon’ was that when knowledge becomes experience, it tends to become part of conventional thinking. Experience and repetition tend to dull the edge of the original conclusions, values, and propositional beliefs which gave birth to the experience. Periodically then, we need to scrutinise again what we are doing, and why we are doing it in a particular way. Hence the following article is not offered as series of critical reviews, or prescriptions for action, but as an invitation to readers to explore some of the assumptions and learner characteristics on which craft training and education is currently based, and to generate some possible options and guide lines for future policy.
Girl technicians for engineering
Authors: WELLENS JOHN
Published: February 2008

This picture shows a part of the training centre at Joseph Lucas, the Birmingham‐based engineering group. This is the grinding section; it is only one section, and then not the largest section, within this training centre. I have seen engineering training workshops the world over; you'd have a long way to go to beat this one. One thing that marks it out as unusual is the number of girl trainees about the place; another is the remarkably high calibre of the girl entrants. Although under training in a craft training centre these girls are not training as craftswomen: they are girl technician trainees and, as such, they are extremely rare. Britain has 250 000 technicians in its engineering industry and of these, only 3 000, or about one per cent, are women and even these are concentrated in certain specialised branches of the industry, particularly in electronics. Clearly, this situation is unsatisfactory. In 1976 the Engineering Industry Training Board decided to mount a limited investigation into the problems of bringing girls into the industry at the technician level. It decided that the best way was to have a go itself to recruit and train girl technicians or, at least, to play the major role in such an exercise, and study what happens. That is how these girls came to be in the Lucas Training Centre.
Mothers in employment
Authors: WELLENS JOHN
Published: February 2008

In any attempt to build up a modern employment policy in a highly‐developed society there are several inter‐related modules. One of these is relevant participation by employees in the decision‐making process; another relates to ownership of the business and the employees' stake in it. There are many more. One aspect of growing importance, one which until recently was not accepted as important but is increasingly asserting itself, is the position of women in society and, in particular, the role of women in the work force. Eventually this feature is destined to become one of the most important of all the aspects of employment and public attitudes towards it will come to be fundamentally modified. At present we are at the very beginning of this process of attitude‐changing and to this extent this is a new but absolutely‐essential field of action for the manager of human resources. It is another of these inescapable obligations which have considerably extended the field of responsibility of the trainer or the manpower change agent. We have already published several authoritative contributions in this topic area. One to which readers might care to refer was contained in our issue of March 1976, page 96, under the title of WOMEN AND WORK. We offer this present article for use as a starter session for in‐plant or college study and we shall add to it as the months go by. In May 1976 a conference was held at Brunei University under the title MOTHERS IN EMPLOYMENT: TRENDS AND ISSUES. This seminar produced a series of first‐class papers which have now been gathered together and published under the title of MOTHERS IN EMPLOYMENT. This 140 page booklet is available from Brunei University Management Programme, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, Middlesex, price £1.95. We have selected it as the most suitable introduction to the topic available and in preparing this current article we have drawn heavily on it and quoted extensively and verbatim from it.
Vocational education and training in France
Authors: DYER NADINE
Published: February 2008

France has recently redeveloped its system of vocational education and training, introducing more courses and qualifications for young people, and conferring upon all workers the right to paid leave for training or retraining at any point during their working lives. It is sometimes suggested that the introduction of this system of ‘Education Permanente’ into Britain would bring great benefits; however the system has drawbacks as well as advantages. This article aims to describe the system and then to point out some of its advantages and disadvantages.
New laws — new managers?
Authors: TOWERS MAXWELL
Published: February 2008

At the time of going to press, reverberations from the violent debate triggered by the so‐called ‘Bullock Report’, published in January 1977, were still considerable. The ‘Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Industrial Democracy’ (to give it its full title) contained, in its main report, certain far‐reaching proposals for employee participation in British industry. It also contained (a) a four‐page note of dissent by one of the seven signatories to the Majority Report and (b) a three‐man Minority Report which ran to almost 30 pages.
Training patterns of Swedish trade unions
Authors: GORE TOM
Published: February 2008

One of the major features of the trade union movement in Sweden is its educational effort. The ideological powerhouse of LO (the TUC) has provided, since the thirties, a wide range of ideas on the place of the trade unions in the economy. Their approach to full employment, centralised wage bargaining and differentials, the improvement of the working environment, wage earners' investment funds, works councils and the recent law on Co‐determination in Decision Making (MBL) was outlined in the April issue. But ideas have to be debated and discussed in a democratic movement. Their translation to deeds requires an informed trade union membership and leaders in the workplaces trained to inform, to persuade and to lead. The means for achieving these objectives have been through centralised and de‐centralised methods of education and training.
A course on decision‐making in the public service
Authors: PHILLIPS KERI
Published: February 2008

The main purpose of this article is to provide a description of the current design of the problem‐solving and decision‐making course which I have been running for my department's training branch. However, I also want to give a brief outline of how the course developed over the period of a year and a half. This description of the past will make the present more comprehensible and it will provide the basis for some of the conclusions I shall be drawing at the end of the article.
The information problem 2
Authors: WELLENS JOHN
Published: February 2008

There's plenty to think about in the Correlli Barnett article, in all conscience. The message is that Britain is fighting a fierce battle for survival, impeded by severe disabilities resulting from her past.
An ICl experiment in company‐wide communication
Authors: WELLENS JOHN , DOUGLASS STUART
Published: February 2008

How ICI is presenting the new proposals for their Employee Profit Sharing Scheme an example of the participative concepts in action.
Training for government with a human face
Authors: Smith Duncan
Published: February 2008

Training as we know it is basically the product of private industry. It has spread only very slowly, and then not very confidently, into the public sector. And within the public sector itself there is a huge disparity in the training effort. The Armed Services of the Crown have some of the best training in the country, but this is because, in peace‐time, training is their end‐product. Most of the nationalised industries have good training but this is because they brought the training tradition with them from the private sector. In other fields things are not so rosy. The National Health Service was an entirely new institution with training problems which are unique; they have not yet been tackled, let along solved. But it is in the Civil Service itself that the most serious training problems are to be seen and this is because training is inextricably linked with good government. We asked Duncan Smith, as one of the very few people qualified to undertake the task, to set the scene for us by presenting an overall view of training in the public service and setting out the main issues as he sees them.
The John Lewis Partnership
Authors: LLOYD DAVIS MH
Published: February 2008

John Lewis Partnership Limited is primarily engaged in the business of retail distribution. At present it trades in 17 department stores and 60 Waitrose food supermarkets. All this has developed from a small shop in Oxford Street, London, specialising in selling textiles, still an important part of the Partner ship's trade and of which it is a manufacturer on a small scale. It also manufactures in a smaller way for some other of its requirements. Turnover in 1976 was £370m. and there are approximately 23 000 Partners working in the business.
Using time effectively
Authors: AUSTIN BRUCE
Published: February 2008

Without questioning the value of the training which is taking place, it can be argued that insufficient is being done to help the manager to control what is unique among all resources — his own time. Time can neither be stored for use later when conditions are perhaps more suitable, nor replaced if it has been unwisely spent. The direct relationship between executive time and cost has been worked out on the basis of a typical working week to be £3 per hour for a £5,000 pa manager.
Liaison between schools and industry the UBI project
Authors: LEWIS JOHN
Published: February 2008

Events in recent months, not least the Prime Minister's speech at Ruskin College and the so called ‘Great Debate’, have focussed attention on to the educational arena. Many have publicly expressed their disquiet at the lack of accountability which the professionals in the educational field have towards the community at large. It is argued that pupils are not being equipped sufficiently well for the positions which they will have to assume when they leave the sheltered school environment. Results of tests — some of which are suspect — have been used to support the view that today's youngsters are illiterate and innumerate compared with those leaving school five, ten and fifteen years ago. In reaching these conclusions it is often forgotten that, with the increasing number of school leavers entering some form of further or higher education, the comparisons are not strictly valid due to the smaller population being used. For those who are interested in pursuing this particular aspect further one would mention the recently published surveys by Sheffield and Essex into numeracy, the CBI survey of numeracy and literacy in Wales and the EITB report of the mathematical requirements of engineering. These are just an indication of the expression of concern which is felt and it is known that other bodies are also actively pursuing their own enquiries in this area.
DIS in IR the interactive skills of industrial relations
Authors: BREWSTER CJ , Connock SL
Published: February 2008

The Industrial Relations Unit of the ATT/ITB have designed an industrial relations course developed from the DIS interactive skills model
Training in the civil service
Authors: Smith Duncan
Published: February 2008

The Fulton Report of 1968 recommended large scale changes in the Civil Service, but most observers consider that little of substance has, in fact, altered. The Civil Service College was one tangible result, but this is generally regarded as a disappointment. Accordingly the House of Commons invited the General Sub‐Committee of its Expenditure Committee to undertake a review of developments in the Civil Service since the Fulton Report. Their terms of reference are wide and evidence has been given to the Sub‐Committee by ex‐Prime Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and a variety of associations and individuals. The subject of training is included in the terms of reference and the author submitted a paper on Training in the Civil Service which will be published in the volume of evidence. A summary of the main points in this paper is given below.
Simplifying the treatment of the human aspect of management part two
Authors: WELLENS JOHN
Published: February 2008

The behavioural theories take us up to the end of the period dominated by participative management. I have already made the point that the purpose was to solve the motivational problem: how to get employees to want to contribute, to work hard and to make the effort. But I have also made the point that this was to be done primarily, and in the eyes of some behavioural and organisational scientists exclusively, to further the economic ends of the enterprise and not for the purpose of being nice to the employees.
An advanced professional qualification for trainers
Authors: SMITH DUNCAN
Published: February 2008

Towards the end of 1976 the Training Services Agency appointed a Training of Trainers Committee to advise on this important issue. It met for the first time on 2 November 1976 and is required to report within two years. We informed readers about this new development in our issue of January 1977 where the terms of reference and the names of the members of the Committee are set out on page 7. Our present author, at that time Chief Training Officer, National Health Service, is a member of that Committee, whose members were chosen for the personal contributions they could make rather than for the organisations they represent. Since that date Duncan Smith has retired and is now very active in a private capacity as consultant; he remains a member of the Committee. He strongly holds the view that there is a need for a high level qualification for trainers and he has presented a paper to the committee arguing this case. Such a qualification would be an entirely new departure, and it appeared to us that trainers ought to know about what is being proposed and is under active consideration in their profession. The views of trainers on this matter are important; after all, we are preaching the gospel of participation. If trainers have views they wish to represent, they should write to us and we will see that they are passed on to the appropriate quarters.
Credit unions
Authors: SAMMONS E
Published: February 2008

There is talk of legislation on credit unions in the next session of Parliament. This article looks at the history and philosophy of credit unions; in a future issue we hope to have an article about the Pitney‐Bowes credit union — the first employees' credit union in this country.
The politics of manpower
Authors: WELLENS JOHN
Published: February 2008

Twenty years ago the word training had a very restricted meaning, but since then the view of what constitutes training has expanded considerably so that it now includes a wide variety of activities, whose existence, previously, was not even recognised. The purpose of this article is to identify these new areas and to try to arrange them in some sort of useful pattern. This pattern I call the concentric view of training, for reasons which will become apparent. We are publishing this concentric view of training because an appreciation of it is essential to an understanding of several ideas we shall be developing over the course of the next few months.
Developments in apprenticeship
Authors: WELLENS JOHN
Published: February 2008

Initiative from the engineering union; In the February issue of the AUEW Journal, Hugh Scanlon, president of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers and chairman of the Engineering Industry Training Board, published an article entitled Apprenticeships — Engineering Industry. It contained a proposal for fundamental changes in the conditions of apprenticeship in the engineering industry.
UK engineering training
Authors: WILD RAY
Published: February 2008

Engineering is important to the UK economy, and engineering education is ipso facto important. There has been a lot of debate over the last few years, but little action has resulted. In a series of articles, Professor Ray Wild, Director of the Brunei University/Henley Administrative Staff College Special Engineering Programme brings together some views on some of the problems in that area, and some solutions. This first article sets the scene and gives a broad view of what is in the air. Later articles will deal with some specific ideas either just starting or about to go into action.
Some Fabian publications
Authors: WELLENS JOHN
Published: February 2008

We have made the point that movements in society at large are, in the immediate future, going to have a great influence on what happens inside organisations and on organisational performance. We have grouped these influences under the generic title of socio‐political movements. Perhaps the best‐known of them is the industrial democracy activity, culminating in Bullock and since subsiding, but we can cite a wide range of others: equal opportunities regardless of sex or ethnic origin; equal pay; producer co‐operatives; profit‐sharing in its many forms and worker control in even more guises. These topics have a very large political content; indeed, some of them are becoming the main planks of the left wing policies.
Behaviour analysis in Employment Service Agency training
Authors: LESLIE RAE W
Published: February 2008

A previous article by Leslie Rae appeared in ICT June 1977 and described a course in Interpersonal Skills training which had been running in the Employment Service Agency for some two years. Response from readers of the article raised many questions about the course and, in particular, the use of Behaviour Analysis in a practical training situation. This article is in response to these enquiries, and also the writer had realised that the statistical population encountered in a number of courses was sufficient to commence forming conclusions on the effectiveness of the use of Behaviour Analysis in this particular form of training. The sharing of similar experiences would be welcomed by Mr Rae.
UK engineering training
Authors: Brown Stuart
Published: February 2008

It has been stated many times that the standards of UK engineering in terms of people are too low in comparison with other industrialised countries. Industry's comment about this statement is that it is far too much a generalised viewpoint, when in fact standards throughout the UK cover a wide spectrum; but unfortunately only the worst aspects are given publicity. The status of the engineer is also questioned, as society in general does not realise an engineer's value/contribution to the UK economy. This may be due to society not being given a clear definition of an engineer. For example an engineer may be described as a man who designs and manages a project of the utmost complexity, such as an aircraft, but also as the man who maintains the aircraft as a maintenance fitter. This is not to deride a maintenance fitter's contribution but to indicate the wide spectrum in which the word ‘engineer’ is used. To improve the public image of the professional engineer, the engineers themselves must establish an image of professionalism, which will mean taking the responsibility and seeking leadership by initiative. Our design engineers and their innovations are second to none, but unfortunately there is a void between them and the commercial and manufacturing aspects of a business. For example one only needs to look at the classic case of Rolls Royce in 1971.
Financial inducements and productivity bargaining
Authors: STOLLIDAY IVOR , ATTWOOD MARGARET
Published: February 2008

It has become an article of faith to believe that the root of the British industrial malaise lies in low productivity. The apparent permanence of a poor productivity record in Britain was brilliantly chronicled by Corelli Barnett in his recent article in ICT on ‘The hundred year sickness’. The government, industry, and commentators point to the unfavourable comparisons between British industry and our foreign competitors. The car industry seems to be the favourite example for this masochistic mode of analysis.
Simplifying the treatment of transactional analysis
Authors: WRIGHT D
Published: February 2008

‘We have a problem with communications’ is probably the most common phrase that trainers come across in their needs analysis process. Consequently a vast amount of training effort is expended in the area of improving people's skills in how to communicate. What is neglected on the majority of courses is why people say and do things and especially why they react to a communication stimulus in a particular way. By analysing oneself it is possible to appreciate why some communication problems arise and Transactional Analysis by providing the framework for such an analysis is an important training tool in the search for improved communications.
Notes on training methods
Authors: GETLEY ROBERT
Published: February 2008

These notes are written for trainers and managers to make them question whether they are doing all they can to make their staff training as effective as possible. I am writing it from both view points, as manager of the P‐E Consulting Group Training Division and as a management trainer. The experience which we have had in training and developing our staff has resulted in a 50 percent yearly growth in revenue over the last three years, and a change from making a loss every year to achieving a considerable contribution to the company's profit. Credit for this change must go to all members of the division, but particular reference must be made to the training courses and teambuilding efforts of my colleagues Lee Bryce and Dick Killick, who have been largely responsible for our progress, and also the senior management for their backing during this period.
Taking account of cultural backgrounds on DMS courses
Authors: BUSS TD
Published: February 2008

One of the major problems on a DMS course stems from the nature of the intake, particularly in an industrial area like Teesside. Many managers, especially those with an engineering or scientific background, are put at an immediate disadvantage in terms of framing essay type answers for examinations, compared to students with, say, social studies degrees. Also the students with social studies degrees tend empirically to be younger, more flexible, and more used to the examination system.
Working and learning in groups
Authors: SMITH PETER
Published: February 2008

Activity in groups is a central feature of human social and work behaviour. Membership of a variety of groupings, both temporary and permanent, small and large, is characteristic of most life experiences. The valuable contribution that groups can make to both individual satisfaction and growth and to the effective performance of tasks has been recognised throughout history. However, the problems of work satisfaction which result from routine technologies, and those difficulties with effective management under complex and changing conditions have resulted in increased attention being given to group forms of work organisation at both the shop floor and at management level. The autonomous work groups, and project teams are examples of the use of groups in organisations. Group activities have also found their way increasingly into the learning situation at all educational levels, as limitations in the effectiveness of the conventional teaching and lecturing methods have been demonstrated. The ability to understand group processes and the development of skills to manage and participate in them, have assumed new importance with these developments in the use of groups.
Time off
Authors: Mackmurdo Robert
Published: February 2008

New legal rules entitling employees to absent themselves from work in order to engage in a variety of trade union duties and activities
Trainers at the crossroads
Authors: RADCLIFF PHILIP J , JENKINS DAVID
Published: February 2008

It may be news to many trainers that in October, 1977 a report entitled An Approach to the Training of Staff with Training Officer Roles was issued by the TSA. Some of us never received copies, others may have readily filed it in the appropriate section of the archives and the rest may well have read and digested its contents. All of us have an open invitation to tender our views to the committee on trainers. However what concerns the authors is the lack of public debate on the report. After all it is now a decade since the Central Training Council published its report on the training of training officers, and the TSA is timely in suggesting we take stock of the training scene. Yet the ‘great debate’ seems to have achieved minimal proportions within industry. It is our contention that there is a serious gap between the debate being pursued at national levels by bodies such as the TSA committee on trainers and the real everyday concerns of training managers in industry. We feel that the TSA committee's invitation is to join in a debate that has already been channelled into directions remote from the issues that really matter. The central issue for trainers is the uncertainty about what their role should be and how it should relate to those other people within the concerns for which they work.
The MPU revolution
Authors: BENSTER BRIAN
Published: February 2008

One of the fashionable talking points of the moment is the electronic microprocessor. It has suddenly become news. The government is to spend an initial £50 million of taxpayers' money on establishing a Microelectronics Unit; domestic appliances are now advertised as ‘containing MPUs — an electronic marvel with many thousands of transistors in a minute space’. Already, in the United States, a huge complex of companies who design and manufacture MPUs and similar devices has assembled in what is known as Silicon Valley (actually the Santa Clara Valley) in the same way that cars gravitated to Detroit and music to Memphis. Machines are in operation, and many more are being designed, which can simulate the thinking process and make decisions on the basis of data fed to them or which they can call for. Machines that think can be seen as a potential threat to some workers and fears are already being expressed about the effect of the MPU revolution on the work situation and on unemployment in particular. There can be no doubt that most jobs as we know them today will be changed, some of them out of all recognition, by this latest innovation — the MPU Revolution.
Do we care enough about young people?
Authors: LOCKWOOD JOHN
Published: February 2008

The move from a rural village environment to a newly‐built industrial urban community must have been a traumatic experience for children in the early years of the first industrial revolution. A life passed in the country‐side, working on the land, or tending livestock on the common, changed abruptly to life down a mine or in one of the new manufacturies. The social effects of these changes reverberated throughout the nineteenth century. Slowly the community removed the worst abuses of child labour and developed the rudiments of a universal education system.
Communicating company information
Authors: UNWIN ALAN
Published: February 2008

This section consists solely of examples. They are chosen not simply to show the pitfalls which await the would‐be communicator, but to make the case that a particular type of problem exists which often goes unrecognised.
Participation
Authors: MITCHELL PAT
Published: February 2008

There is a great deal that can be learned about participation by looking at Swedish experience. However, attempts to do so must begin on a note of caution. The steps which individual companies take in this direction are determined to a considerable degree by their own unique culture and that of the community in which they are located and clearly there are significant cultural differences between Sweden and Britain. Some of the more obvious of these differences go a long way towards explaining why the development of participation has progressed much further in Sweden than it has in this country. For example, their Trade Union system is, for historical reasons, much more rational than ours. It is based on a comparatively small number of industrial unions and, even if one includes white collar workers, it is extremely unlikely that any Swedish company will have to negotiate with more than three or four unions. And as union membership is virtually universal, particularly on the shop floor, the problem of management having to relate to mixtures of unionised and non‐unionised workers simply does not arise. In addition Sweden has a unitary education system: everyone goes to the same kind of school. This has been an important factor in making their society comparatively classless and, while one can argue about the wider social merits of a fully comprehensive system, there can be little doubt that collaboration between the different interest groups in industry is a lot easier when workers, managers and trade union representatives have a shared educational background. Some of the other differences between our two countries are less obvious but no less important. Sweden is a small nation which is almost completely dependent for its very high standard of living on the ability to compete in international markets. Perhaps because this dependence is so obvious its implications, in terms of productivity, profitability, manning levels and so on, appear to be accepted by the vast majority of Swedes. There is also a strong belief, running right across Swedish society, that participation and industrial democracy are good things in their own right and essential for the future of their industry; a concensus which we cannot yet pretend exists in Britain. Clearly Swedish companies have things a lot easier in developing participation than their British counterparts. Moreover some of the complexities of the British scene cannot be tackled at company level. There is not much the average production manager or shop steward can do about class differences or the structure of the Trade Union system. These are issues which must be dealt with at national level. However it would be wrong for companies to conclude that the differences between Sweden and Britain make Swedish experience irrelevent to us. We are certainly prevented by these differences from copying what they have done, but they do not prevent us from learning from their experience.
UK engineering training
Authors: WILD RAY
Published: February 2008

Readers will already know the broad basis of the so‐called ‘elitist’ engineering programmes, and have considered the views of the various parties on their value. In this article I propose to give some details of the Special Engineering Programme (SEP) of Brunel University in conjunction with Henley Administrative Staff College. The details will obviously differ from those of the other seven major programmes; but let me emphasise again that all eight share two important objectives: • To provide a challenging and relevant education and training for highly able and motivated students. • To help develop such students for high level and rewarding jobs in engineering and management in UK industry.
labour relations in Japan
Authors: BERRY ALAN
Published: February 2008

It would be wrong to imagine that the Japanese modern industrial structure is primarily made up of internationally known groups such as Mitsubishi, Toyota and Sony. The practical position is somewhat different. Certainly the large internationally known groups are quite fundamental to the modern, highly industrialised, infrastructure, particularly as these groups are export orientated. However, in terms of employment, if a boundary is taken of enterprises employing 1 000 employees or more, these major groups only accounted in 1975 for some 24 per cent of the employed working population.
the choices ahead part 3
Authors: WELLENS JOHN
Published: February 2008

Every time the country gets into a mess people start talking about reforming the political and economic system. But once the crisis has passed, or more accurately, once the appropriate temporary patches have been applied, life goes back to normal until the next crisis, whether natural or contrived, bursts upon us. Then we return once more to the theme of reform, although no‐one really has any confidence that anything will come of it.
why communicate?
Authors: WRIGHT DONALD
Published: February 2008

There is no organisation, industrial, commercial or educational that is not subject to the continuing malaise of poor communication. Many organisations do make genuine attempts to communicate effectively both horizontally and vertically and certainly vast amounts of money are spent in training managers and staff to improve their communications skill. Unfortunately despite all the good intentions and superb training courses communications derailments still happen, often with disastrous results upon productivity, motivation, and commitment, as well as on the individual's nervous system.
an approach to the development of staff with direct trainer roles
Authors: BARRINGTON HARRY
Published: February 2008

As most readers of this journal must already know, the MSC Training of Trainers Committee issued its second Discussion Document under the above title sometime towards the end of March. The Committee's first Discussion Document, which was entitled ‘An Approach to the Training of Staff with Training Officer Roles’, appeared in 1977; it was followed last year by the Committee's First Report.
the choices ahead part 4
Authors: WELLENS JOHN
Published: February 2008

My thesis, which was developed in part in my previous article, is that the format of politics in Britain was determined in the social and political context of one hundred years ago and that it has hardly changed at all since. This is particularly true of the informal rules which govern the public behaviour of the political parties and their spokesmen.
WANTED
Authors: SHARPE PATRICK H
Published: February 2008

I now know what the NASA Flight Director feels when he has to press the ‘abort switch’ when a multimillion pound satellite launch vehicle involving thousands of skilled man hours goes into an erratic flight path. This experience came to me on the 6th April, 1979 when, at a poorly attended Annual General Meeting of the Institution of Training Officers at Scarborough, I said farewell to the organisation disgusted with the series of events which led up to the final decision to change its name to the Institute of Training and Development. My disillusionment had gathered momentum over a period of six years with ITO's loss of direction and clear objectives occurring mainly through the long drawn‐out merger talks with the Institute of Personnel Management — these came to nothing last September with the IPM Council deciding by a narrow majority to overturn their members' ballot decision for reasons of incompatability on legal and financial grounds. In other words, the organisational ‘hang ups’ of the two organisations involved overcoming too great an inertia to allow common sense to develop an organisation with a total commitment to providing a professional service to the training and/or personnel manager. Both IPM and ITD are now going into their own orbits, which in the case of ITD is going to be an expensive struggle to reach orbital speed from a zero base. Even the appointment of a new director (ex MSC advisor George Webster) and a £10,000 PR exercise commissioned with Welbeck PR is unlikely to save them from an erratic path to oblivion. The reason is simply that you have to get your objectives right, and no amount of PR work will make any impact without the right formula. The evidence for a need to change should have been clear to see in view of the great debate surrounding the IPM/ITO merger, and also the considerable grass root support for the final proposals by both ITO and IPM members. No way should the respective Councils have thrown out proposals which had the support of at least seven thousand professional personnel and training managers. This level of support should have clearly indicated that neither organisation was providing satisfactory service to their members. The comments column of this journal (Industrial and Commercial Training) have highlighted on frequent occasions the disenchantment of the profession with not having their views projected at national level, and the MSC Training of Trainers debates have revealed the shortcomings of the present institutions to monitor and develop the professional trainer of the future.
the concordat
Authors: GORE TOM
Published: February 2008

The demand of the trade unions and the TUC in September 1978 for an orderly return to responsible free collective bargaining was translated into action by the unfettered use of the strike weapon. It was exercised by the stop stewards at local levels to support demands for wage increases ranging from ten to fifty per cent. It belied order and responsibility. It belied economic sense in a climate when inflation had been reduced to single figures but productivity was around two per cent. The disruption to national life and the economic loss sustained by the country caused the Government and the TUC to pose the question, what is to be done? Since the TUC has no powers of control over its member unions, although it can exercise exhortation, it seemed the time was ripe for a joint declaration. This was issued in Feb. 1979 and considered by the General Council of the TUC. The nineteen page document is inelegantly called ‘The Economy, the Government and Trade Union Responsibilities’. As might be expected, it is a mixture of general observations, particular advice to the trade unions, and a powerful belief in the efficacy of the close and constructive partnership of the TUC and the Government.
establishing effective training
Authors: ANDERSON NJ , RICHARDS JH
Published: February 2008

All too frequently training has been described in terms of the organisational level at which it is aimed. Thus we have artificial divisions between operator, craft, clerical, supervisory and management training. The fact is however that changes cannot be made at one level without affecting behaviour at other levels. Developing the role of the supervisor, for example, necessarily involves modifying the role of managers, specialists and operators. Furthermore the aim of the training function should be to develop the performance of the organisation as a whole. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the advantages and pay‐offs of adopting an integrated approach to training and organisation change. This is done by means of a description of our recent experiences in designing and running such a programme in the Warehousing and Distribution Function of The Boots Company Limited.
IPM+ITO=IPTM progress report
Authors: SHARPE PATRICK H
Published: February 2008

Supported by the message of good will and promises of local and regional pressure to influence those unfortunate enough to be numbered amongst those who are not regular readers of this journal, we believe that it is possible to commence a viable professional national organisation for human resources management by 1 January 1980. This action will have to be subject to the financial restraints which are the inevitable result of independent action.
Training entrepreneurs
Authors: LESSEM RONNIE
Published: February 2008

The New Enterprise Programmes In the last 18 months a series of courses have emerged, round the country, for people starting their own businesses. The majority of these have been sponsored by the Training Services Division under their ‘New Enterprise Programme’, and have been based in Manchester, Durham, Wales and London.
The Manpower Services Commission
Authors: LOCKWOOD JOHN
Published: February 2008

‘Manpower is a key resource, perhaps the country's most valuable asset, and it should be in the forefront of Government, industry and company strategy and policy, and not treated as a residual factor as so often happens at present. ‘It would be wrong to suppose that there is some magic list of extra manpower measures which would transform any existing set of programmes into a comprehensive manpower policy. The task is rather to create a new attitude to manpower.’