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Reports on the first ever automatic milking system, known as VMS, or voluntary milking system, which has been unveiled on a farm in Sweden. The article goes on to outline the history and development of VMS, and its current operating processes.

Provides some background to new proposals in the UK to introduce legislation which would give existing long leaseholders in interdependent properties the collective right to purchase the freehold interest. Sets out to examine the management structure of commonhold properties, with particular emphasis on the dynamics of collective management, in three countries where it is well established: Australia, France and the USA.

The aim of the paper is to define the role of trust and reliance in business relationships.

After this paper identifies gaps in the literature, a conceptual model is developed, and its implications analyzed and discussed.

One of the particularities of trust is its inherent anthropocentricity. As a concept, trust appears to be more applicable at the level of inter‐personal relationships than to inter‐organizational relationships. Business relationships involve both inter‐personal and inter‐organizational relationships. The paper considers a number of other possibilities and argues that there is a need to look at reliance as an incremental intellectual lens on business relationships.

Within a business‐to‐business marketing context, the paper discusses the impact of such a multi‐faceted conceptualization for research in business relationships.

Marketing researchers often neglect the fact that relationships between organizations are based on mutual interests, and attempt to stretch the concept of trust towards inter‐organizational relationships without the necessary theoretical scrutiny.

Applying the concept of trust to personal relationships and reliance to inter‐organizational relationships, the paper introduces a complementary, rational standard that contributes to the calculability in exchange relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to test the widely held assumption that underutilisation of mental health services by Chinese living in western countries is due to their different beliefs regarding mental illness.

Qualitative data were analysed from in-depth interviews with 23 Chinese respondents, who gave a total of 30 accounts of a Chinese person they knew who had experienced mental health problems in the Netherlands. Analysis focused on the way these problems were described and explained, as well as the kinds of help regarded as appropriate.

The beliefs expressed about mental illness did not seem to differ from those current in the west in ways that would form a major barrier to seeking help from mainstream services.

The study was exploratory and the limited sample size did not make it possible to analyse sources of variation in beliefs. Generalisation to other countries would need to take into account the specific characteristics of the Chinese population in those countries.

Simply knowing that a person is of Chinese origin is likely to tell us little about their beliefs concerning mental health. Moreover, traditional Chinese beliefs are not necessarily incompatible with western ones. Service providers should pay more attention to issues such as communication barriers, entitlement to care, knowledge of how the health system works and discrimination.

The paper challenges widely held notions about ethnic Chinese that are seldom empirically tested. It is the first study of its kind in the Netherlands.

Examines the French approach to residential commonhold management, the over‐regulation in commonhold management in France and the problems that this causes. Considers the implications of the French system for the introduction of commonhold in the UK. Concludes that UK commonhold management is likely to follow a less highly regulated path than France, having more in common with the legislation in Australia and the USA.

Drawing from theories of modernization and socioemotional selectivity, this study investigates the effect of familial support on the relationship between immigrant generation and mental health service use for Asian American and Latinx older adults.

Using the data from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) 2002–2003, nested logistic regressions (N = 810) were used to test the effects of familial support (parent–child relationship quality) on the relationship between immigrant generation and the use of mental health services. Differences in familial support between older adults and their younger counterparts were also accounted for.

The results indicate that familial support partially attenuates the relationship between immigrant generation and mental health service use, but only for Latinx groups. Familial support was not significantly different for older adults than that of those younger in age.

Findings suggest the need for a better understanding of familial support as it relates to mental health service use for these groups. Approaches to improving the access to, and the overall use of, mental health services should be sensitive to ethnic variation. Immigrant groups may also endure stressors associated with legal and citizenship status. Future research should consider the effect of these political identities on mental health. Studies on parent–child relationship quality should also be longitudinal in order to better understand the dynamic nature of familial support across the life course.

This chapter addresses gaps in the literature as Asian Americans are relatively understudied group with regard to mental health. Previous studies showed that US-born Asian American and Latinx populations are more likely to use mental health services than their foreign-born counterparts, but the effects of generation status and familial support for older adults are unclear.

Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.

In concluding their review of the environmental and social performance of some 86 worldwide retailers Storebrand Investments (2003) argued that “Shopping is increasingly becoming a leisure activity – done not out of necessity but out of luxury. The long term effects of encouraging consumerism, which is in direct conflict with the definition of being sustainable, is a real conflict to tackle as a retailer” and they encouraged retailers to address this important challenge. In many ways consumerism has become an increasingly defining characteristic of modern, nay post modern, societies (Stearns, 1997) while at the same time sustainability has moved higher and higher up political agendas around the world. This short article looks to explore some of the tensions between consumerism and sustainable retailing. It begins by providing a basic outline of sustainable development and consumerism and of the role of retailing in linking production and consumption and it then examines some of the ways in which UK based retailers are looking to address sustainability agendas.

Objective: Our study examines the association between social support and use of mental health services in Asian American men and women. Specifically, we report on the association between types of social support and types of health services used (general medical care and specialty mental health care).

Method: We use data from the National Latino and Asian American Study, a nationally representative survey of the US household population of Latino and Asian Americans. Our present study is based on data from the sample of Asian Americans (N = 2,095).

Results: Overall, our findings suggest that Asian Americans use general medical care services more than specialty mental health care. Our findings also showed variations in levels of social support, and the use of health services among different Asian subgroups (Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, and Other Asian) and nativity status (US-born versus foreign-born Asians). Specific types of social support influenced the use of specialty mental health care services, while other types of social support inhibited use of specialist services.

Conclusion: Compared to using generalist services, Asian Americans demonstrated lower rates of using specialist services. Our results emphasize the importance of considering other social factors to explain between group differences as well as factors contributing to the underutilization of specialty mental health services by Asian Americans.

The aim of this paper is to design and pilot test a culturally tailored intervention that meets the support needs and preferences of two refugee groups.

The study employed a multi‐method participatory research design and was conducted in two urban centres in western and central Canada. Support was delivered to Sudanese and Somali refugees (n=58), by trained peer and professional helpers, in face‐to‐face groups matched by gender and ethnicity and in telephone dyads. Participants completed three quantitative measures before (pre‐test) and following (post‐test) the intervention. Group interviews with refugee participants and individual interviews with peer and professional helpers conducted at post‐test, elicited qualitative data on perceived impacts and factors influencing impacts of the intervention. Service providers and policy influencers (n=22) were interviewed in groups about the implications of this intervention study for services, programs and policies.

There were significant increases in perceived support and social integration and significant decreases in loneliness following the intervention. Participants reported that they learned how to seek services and supports and how to cope with challenges faced by refugees. Service providers and policy influencers were impressed by the success of the intervention.

No peer support intervention studies focused on the unique support needs of African refugees have been reported. This pilot intervention study demonstrates the supportive power of like‐ethnic peers and could guide subsequent community‐based intervention trials and the design of culturally appropriate health‐related programs.