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Once a Cinderella subject, the employment of people aged 50 and above (often referred to in the literature as 'older workers') has become an issue of major prominence in recent years. This is no more evident than in the passage of the Age Regulations (October 2006) and with it, New Labour's pledge to encourage age diversity in the workplace. Older people are thus being encouraged to re-enter the labour market through schemes such as the New Deal 50 plus and Pathways to Work or to take up volunteering under the rubric of 'active citizenship'. There is now a variety of ways in which people approaching later life would, on the face of it, be able to access work, education and training opportunities. However, past research and current data suggest that there are a number of barriers to the take up of such opportunities. For instance, research has shown that older workers receive lower performance ratings than their younger counterparts (Saks and Waldman, 1998). The suggestion here is that negative stereotypes regarding an individual's chronological age may override employers' appraisal of their older workers. Ageism has been cited as the main barrier to employability and occupational progression for the majority of older workers. Past research in this field has highlighted the discriminatory power of economic myths and stereotypes concerning the work ability of older age groups (for example Taylor and Walker, 1998). The picture to emerge is that older workers are perceived by employers to be less productive, harder to train, and more expensive and difficult to manage than younger workers. It is therefore hoped that policy intervention will have the long term effect of supporting older age groups who have consistently been undervalued and often discarded by employers for simply being 'too old'. Laudable aims, but are employers ready to listen? Moreover are older people (and society at large) ready to refuse to conform to, or accept, negative images of their age group? This research considers the nature and salience of ageism in the UK labour market. It also asks whether ageism alone is enough to explain the extent of the discrimination experienced by older women and men. It looks at these issues through the eyes of older people themselves and the organisations that impact upon their lives in an effort to understand the barriers they face in the realm of work and employment. Qualitative and quantitative evidence is presented from older individuals and employers across the UK. Analysis of the data supports the existence of ageism in the workplace. It also reveals a gender dimension to the ageism experienced, which works to the detriment of older women and, in a qualitatively different way, older men as well. Yet self-reported examples of ageism were often more implicit than explicit, based around wider cultural stereotypes about people of a certain age. These findings are, of course, in accordance with much related past theory and research. Yet in contrast to previous work, consideration is also given to the part played by individual difference and to broader societal and psychological influences (i.e. life satisfaction). Such an approach indicates that older peoples' experiences of employment are more complex than previously assumed. For example, individuals' experiences of gender and age discrimination are not static, nor isolated from wider personal, historical and social contexts in which they had grown up and grown older. It is therefore argued that the study of ageism should be broadened out and linked to a variety of factors that concern how we as individuals and a society view old age.

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No description available.

This research attempts to investigate the use & applicability of lean thinking concepts in the food industry & to develop a strategy for the productive adoption of lean thinking in the food industry. In . order to investigate the application of lean manufacturing concepts in the food industry, a lean manufacturing framework comprising of lean goals, lean principles and lean practices, has been developed through a systematic review of the literature. Considering that the food industry is not one industry but a collection of several types of industry producing a diverse range of products and employing a varied range of processes, a food industry classification system is proposed on the basis of visits to various food plants and the available literature. To investigate specific issues pertaining to the adoption of lean concepts in the food industry, a multiple case study research strategy approach is selected for the research investigation. This research investigation includes fifteen case studies. Except for one case study of a vehicle plant the rest of the case studies relate to food manufacturing plants. The case study of a vehicle assembly plant was selected in order to undertake a comparison with the food industry. The fourteen food manufacturing plants and the one vehicle assembly plant have been studied through a visit tour together with interviews, documentation and a questionnaire. Each case study has been described with regard to product, market, raw materials and process aspects of a plant. Subsequently the case studies have been assessed in order to understand the degree of leanness by examining the status of lean practices. All the cases pertaining to the food industry were mapped on the food industry classification scheme to identify specific food industry types of each of the food plants. It is observed that the lean model widely adopted in a discrete manufacturing environment, particularly automotive, is not applicable as such in the food sector. Therefore, a lean approach consisting of lean principles, lean practices and lean vision has been suggested for continuous, batch and assembly type of the food industry which would enable food industry to stay competitive. The major contributions of this research are, the development of a lean manufacturing framework consisting of goals, principles and practices which can be used to assess the leanness of any manufacturing plant, the development of a food industry classification system which would help researchers and managers to better understand the specificity of the production systems, an investigation of issues pertaining to the use and applicability of lean manufacturing in the food industry to help the food industry take advantage of operational improvement initiatives to stay competitive in today's global market, the development of a lean approach comprising of lean principles, lean practices and lean vision for the food industry which would enable the managers to transform their plants into lean plants.

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There are a number of FM service delivery models ranging from in-house provision to total outsourcing, operating in the UK market. The portfolio of FM services and the range of options relating to the various combinations of service delivery have sparked many discussions and debates over the merits of certain modes of service delivery. Underpinning this circumstance, this research attempted to understand and explore how facilities management services in UK shopping centres have been managed and services delivered. This includes looking at how shopping centre managers determined the best options of FM service delivery in the shopping centres. As the research identified the dilemma of shopping centre managers, it aimed to develop an effective decision-making framework for assisting the shopping centre managers to select the best options of FM service delivery prior to the tendering process. This research adopted a quantitative approach to investigating facilities management services in UK shopping centres as well as determining the best options of FM service delivery. A questionnaire survey was used to investigate the current practiced of FM service delivery in UK shopping centres. Apart from that, it will also investigate shopping centres managers' perceptions towards the factors and criteria in assessing the best options of FM service delivery. Meanwhile, in developing the decision-making framework, this research introduced the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) as an alternative decision-making model as providing a basis of methodological framework for the selection of the best options of FM service delivery in UK shopping centres which is known as Facilities Management Outsourcing Selection System (FMOSS). The implementation and validation of this decision-making framework has been carried through the series of evaluation by using the pair wise comparison in the Expert Choice system and evaluation form. Those evaluations have been carried out by the selected shopping centres managers. The main findings of this research have identified that in UK shopping centres the current provisions of FM services in the majority are practicing outsourcing. In the meantime, the current options available of FM service delivery being practiced are single service contracts and bundled service contract. Based on FMOSS decision-making framework the results indicated that bundled service contract is the best option of FM service delivery in UK shopping centres. This is because bundled service contracts have resulted more in potential benefits and less in potential risks when compared to single service contracts. The factors that influenced the decision-making are favourable on cost and financial factors. Finally, this research has achieved the aim and the objectives of the study. This research has significance in helping the facilities management industry to understand more about the perceptions of shopping centres industry and theirs requirements towards FM services in shopping centres in order to deliver quality, innovative, cost effective and best in value services. A side of that, the FMOSS decision-making framework has significance in assisting the shopping centres managers in making the best selection of FM service delivery in shopping centres prior to tendering process; it is also provides the basis for a methodological framework for selecting the best options of FM service delivery in UK shopping centres and gives management of shopping centres an alternative approach to determine the best options of FM service delivery as well as improving their existing decision making process. This framework is identified as an original contribution of this research and would be beneficial to the shopping centres managers in making better decisions.

This study aimed to investigate the main impact of adopting the International Financial Report Standards (IFRSs) on the users of financial reports in both the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and the Abu Dhabi stock exchange (ADX). The study has also examined the impact of adopting the ·IFRS on profitability of firms and stock performance in the two stock markets. In addition, the study has investigated the different challenges that adopting the IFRS had in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets following the compulsory adoption of IFRS and whether the implementation of IFRS would have different impacts on the DFM from those in the ADX. One of the most important developments in the literature related to accounting and finance at the beginning of this century is concerned with the compulsory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) in Europe. With the introduction of IFRSs, there is the promise of the provision of financial statements that are more accurate and transparent and, therefore, the expectation of more value-relevance to investors when compared to local GAAP. Following the announcement that IFRSs were to be adopted by listed firms in the European Union in 2005, the accounting systems in developing countries have been affected, with countries, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAB), also announcing their desire to adopt the IFRS. However, as the nature of the business environment in the UAE is significantly different from that in western countries, serious argument arose between the users of financial reports in the UAB over whether the adoption of IFRSs was appropriate for their financial statements. The study has used two main methods to collect and analyse the primary data. Firstly, questionnaires were used to gauge how the preparers and users of financial reports view the adoption of IFRSs, in both DFM and ADX, and how this transition to IFRSs has affected their decision making. SPSS was used to analyse the collected data of the questionnaires using different tests such as t-test, ANOV A test, and Correlation test. Secondly, this study used the secondary data analysis to investigate the primary effects of adopting IFRS upon share performance and profitability of listed firms in the two stock exchanges. For the second data collection method, several multiple regression models were used based on the Ohlson and modified Ohlson models. The main findings of the study from the questionnaire indicate that most of users of the financial reports were in favour of the adoption of IFRSs in the UAB, however many of the users argued that the transition to IFRSs ought to be given careful consideration as it had negative effects on the accounting system of companies and raised the issue of lack of readiness and lack of competence of employees who are ill prepared for IFRSs. The findings of the questionnaire have also showed that the preparers at the banking sector were more satisfied with the adoption of IFRSs than was the case in other sectors. The results from the analysis of secondary data showed that the adoption of IFRSs had value-relevance for both the DFM and the ADX, with the greater relative impact being at the former. In addition, the analysis of results showed that the adoption of IFRSs had an impact on some financial indicators and this impact was higher in the ADX than it was in the DFM. The analysis also indicated that the adoption of IFRSs had a great impact on the trading volume of shares in both of the stock markets, with the impact being significantly higher in the ADX. In conclusion, as the main focus of the study was to examine the challenges and the impact of the recent adoption of IFRSs in one of the countries of the Middle East, this study has made a contribution to the literature on value-relevance in terms of stock performance and financial indicators. It has also shed light on an area of research which has been overlooked particularly in the Middle East.

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No description available.