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There is a crisis in the vocational training provision of the Channel Island of Jersey's construction industry that has similarities with the British situation. Unavailability and inappropriateness of skills, nonviability of current training and recruitment policies on the island, fragmentation of the training infrastructure, the demand-driven and task- or job-specific nature of training, the Jersey-born and male focus of recruitment, and the uncoordinated, traditional and short-term approach of the local construction industry towards promotion and financing of training provision were found to be working against the industry's long-term needs and restricting its ability to respond to the variability of the production process. In contrast, a structured training policy incorporating the needs of both education and industry (employee and employer), and holding a longterm vision should enable the construction industry of Jersey to reverse the downward spiral. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the role flexible work arrangements (FWA) play in diversity policies, and the reasons for/barriers to their implementation. Design/methodology/approach – Based on qualitative case study research in four large multinational service companies. Primary data were collected through senior and line-manager interviews and questionnaires. Findings – The research shows FWA are an integral part of diversity implementation but organisational imperatives, particularly management concerns about client interaction, constrain the acceptance of FWA and therefore restrict their impact as a means to greater diversity. As FWA have different effects (being available "remotely" vs not being available) their acceptability is not inclusive, but dependent on job character and level. Research limitations/implications – Further research is needed on the difficulties of implementing FWA and, particularly, its impact on career progression. The prioritisation of business imperatives over social arguments, such as client needs and staff availability, with its impact on the acceptability of FWA and hence ultimate enhancement of diversity deserves more attention. Practical implications – This paper shows that company discourse with its unambiguous business focus highlights the shortcomings of relying upon FWA to bring about a changed climate for diversity. Originality/value – Importantly issues are explored which have not featured significantly in the literature to date, especially the role of clients/customers and differences in the effect of FWA as elements in managerial perspectives on the acceptability of FWA, which can act as constraints to its use for diversity enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present the early stages of a critical analysis of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008 which is intended to generate a model that can be of practical use in the Research Excellence Framework 2013. By drilling down into the research outputs available on the RAE 2008 website we intend to compare the context and methodologies used in more and less successful submissions. We show how an on-going study may generate results that are useful in progressing towards both discovering answers to the Research Questions and refining of the methods used. The results of the RAE 2008 in the field of Business and Management may have been disappointing for a number of institutions. However, the feedback in the form of the RAE ratings is difficult to use in making improvements to performance. This paper uses Westminster Business School (WBS) a post-1992 business school, as an example, and focuses on the Research Output aspect of the RAE ratings. It shows how a comparison of a sample of submitted outputs from this business school and those of two more successful institutions is a relevant exercise which reveals some useful areas for improvement and is worth re-focusing to provide more constructive feedback. Following a precursory literature review which sets the scene of differing but often not-quite-understood statuses of the qualitative and quantitative paradigms, initial findings suggest that the RAE outputs submitted by these three business schools vary substantially in terms of indicators of prestige and features such as topic area, journal rankings and citations; indicators of resources and professional network such as number of different topics, authors and location of authors; and indicators of methodology and method. The analysis takes into account the requirements of the 2013 Research Excellence Framework (REF) in order to progress. In this way the results of the RAE may be used to assist in institutional preparations for the REF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a critique of the ‘economistic’ approach to understanding social bias in parliamentary representation. It asks why it is so difficult to reduce social bias and achieve change towards a more demographically representative parliament. It argues that what is needed to understand political representation and social identity is a theory that does not polarise subjectivity and social structure in the way the economistic approach polarises ‘supply’ and ‘demand’. The article proposes that paired concepts of ‘habitus’ and ‘field’ provide tools that enable an understanding of the relationship between the ‘general social field’, structured as it is by divisions of social class, sex/gender and ‘race’/ethnicity, and the ‘habitus’ and ‘strategies’ of actors competing to enter one of the major fields of power, in this case, the field of politics, recognising that these two levels are mediated in their interconnections by the specific form taken by the British political system. The research is based on extended autobiographical interviews with male and female members of the British parliament. The article focuses on class, the ‘difference’ that has been sidelined in feminist debates on the politics of difference, and also on sex/gender in the form of masculine identity. The article suggests that remedies are needed at each of the three levels of field, system and habitus if parliamentary politics is to be opened up to a wider demographic base, and in so doing, to move towards political justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]