Diabetes and hypertension are among the most common non-communicable diseases (NCD) that contribute to a large number of adult morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to determine knowledge of diabetes and hypertension and the associated risk factors among members of teaching staff of Higher Learning Institutions in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A cross sectional community based study was conducted in 10 higher learning institutions including universities. A structured pretested questionnaire was utilized. A total of 139 teaching members of staff from higher learning institutions participated in the study. The majority (74.8%; n=104) of the participants were males. Mean age of the participants was 40.7 ± 12.6. Over half (56.8%; 79/139) of the respondents correctly identified failure of body to use insulin as one of the causes of diabetes. Of the respondents, 43.2% (60/139) were able to identified heredity as cause of hypertension. Increasing age was correctly identified as one of risk factors for diabetes by 38.1% (53/139) and for hypertension by 36.7% (51/139) respondents. In conclusion, the majority of teaching staff in the higher learning Institutions in Dar es Salaam were aware of the diabetes and hypertension. However the knowledge of the causes, signs and symptoms, risk factors and complications was not as high as expected. It is important that this group of professionals is appropriately informed as regards to diabetes, hypertension and other non-communicable diseases as they may serve as key advocacy group to the community and policy makers in Tanzania. ________________________________________________________________________________________

Strategies for improving the productivity of the spinning industries are much needed. In this paper, a case of a spinning industry was systematically studied. The strategies for enhancing productivity were established through a mixed approach. The studied industry experienced low productivity as they were only achieving 55%-68% of their production plan. Also, their actual operational machine availability was 67%. The proposed strategies include improving the spooling and the drawing process by installing new machinery technology; improve raw materials and components flow; hiring well-trained workers; develop employee training programs; search for new market segments; establish effective information and communications technology section, and develop an implementable maintenance plan. The study also revealed that system dynamics modelling helps to arrange descriptive information analytically. Thus, Vensim® software was applied to illustrate the 'single-factor productivity measures'.

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A lot of attention has been paid on action learning in the last four decades or so and the success of such programmes has also been widely publicized. But why have these programmes been so effective in helping organizations cope with change? Many authors state that the success of such programmes is due to the fact that they link learning to actions. Yet others claim that action learning programmes succeed because they involve employee empowerment and provide a much greater learning curve. In this paper the authors holdthat action learning programmes succeed because they are partly systemic and can be made even more effective if they are fully designed and implemented systemically. The essential features of a systemic method include the ability to help organizations deal with organic, cultural and power complexity. The conclusion that action learning programmes can succeed if they are fully designed and implemented systemically is reached by comparing the essential features of a systemic method with that of an action learning programme.The authors make use of a case study to support their conclusion.