While it may be in the interest of construction firms to expand either gradually or rapidly their workload over time, the need to maintain a stable volume of work is still crucial for long‐term survival. While it is obviously useful for the industry to try to resolve the specific quality...

Notes that outsourcing is just one of the means by which the boundary of the firm can be adjusted. Considers various other means such as conglomeration and horizontal and vertical integration. Focuses on outsourcing and its place in this bigger picture and discusses the history of outsourcing....

Research on organisational learning is limited in three ways; in terms of the type of organisation and the type of employees which are seen to benefit from a learning culture; and in terms of the consensual assumptions made about the nature of learning within the workplace, assumptions which...

Examines the reform of NHS employment practices focusing on managerial attempts to alter pay and working practices within NHS Trusts. It draws on case study evidence to illustrate the difficulties that have confronted managers in making radical changes in employment practices. It is argued that,...

The changing environment within which SMEs are operating is examined by reference to detailed case studies of three medium‐sized firms (one in the pharmaceutical sector and two in engineering). Following the development of a framework for analysis the cases are discussed to illustrate the...

Purpose – Examines the origins and workings of work‐life balance policies at Eli Lilly. Design/methodology/approach – Forms part of a research report on Making Flexible Working Work , by Roffey Park Institute, which reviews the literature on flexible working, puts the business case, and...

Purpose – The paper describes, in the second of two articles on UK computer‐training company Happy Computers, the importance of work‐life balance. Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines the origins of the work‐life balance programme at the company and the way in which it has...

Purpose – Describes the benefits that UK public‐relations and marketing‐communications company Chazbrooks Communications has gained from its commitment to work‐life balance. Design – Details the comments of managing director Mandy Brooks, a vocal proponent of flexible working for many...

Studies of teamworking suggest that, for it to be successful, fundamental changes must take place in many aspects of an organization’s structure and operations. This study of the Inland Revenue reveals that only in a few aspects does its operation of teamworking follow this model. The range of...

Discusses the practical application of the single minute exchange of die (SMED) within a textile processing operation. First, the operational environment is presented, and the SMED application is considered against a changing business requirement. The current approaches to SMED are then...