Some companies to aid the product development process have implemented a stage‐gate framework, as a high‐level representation of the activities required. Such a framework allows the development process to be closely monitored and controlled, using stages of work and review gates. Six different companies have been examined to show the variations in representation. Each approach was compared to a generic four‐staged framework. Companies which are organised mainly in cross‐functional teams adhere strongly to the four stages, namely a low‐phased approach. However, companies organised with a strong functional structure tend to have more phases and gates within each stage, i.e. a high‐phased approach. These additional phases tend to be placed late in the product development process rather than at the start where their effect would be greater. A generic representation of the product development process applicable to various organisations and industrial sectors, provides an architecture for carrying out any business process improvement project.
This paper contends that ‘technology transfer’ cannot be achieved by straightforward sale and purchase transactions. While any given technology may be describable in abstract terms, its effective use depends upon understanding and motivation in individuals. Achieving this harmony between theory and practice is a subtle process, most easily realized by prolonged interaction between donors and recipients, during which the two parties often change roles. The UK's government-sponsored TCS (formerly known as the ‘Teaching Company Scheme’) is an effective means of bringing about this intercourse, as is the ‘Intermediate Institute’ approach of the Warwick Manufacturing Group's academic–industry partnership.
In 2018, following a significant increase in violence against NHS staff and others serving the public, the UK Parliament passed a piece of legislation which included the creation of a new offence category, ‘Assault against an Emergency Worker’. The intention was to codify the aggravating nature of assaults against emergency workers as a reflection of the moral outrage such behaviour should attract. However, the actual implementation of this law has been criticised as adding very little to the lofty promises of promoting a “zero tolerance” culture. In this paper we review the new legal framework and attempt to highlight potential effects arising from its implementation.
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