Stewart R (Ed.)

Covers not only the usual ‘understanding teams’ material, but also a range of innovative aspects such as the role of technology and virtual teams. Includes a satisfying mix of theory and practical help. Deal with market-place pressures that have caused businesses to restructure themselves in a team-based form, and the cultural changes necessary to allow successful teamworking. Covers all aspects of team management, from leading team meetings to using management games. Proves invaluable for anyone who is a team leader or manager or even just a student of organizational processes. Includes organizational examples, clear diagrams, models, matrices, inventories and questionnaires that not only bring the text to life but ensure that even the most casual reader will take something useful away.

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The visit to the Post Office with a licence renewal form, certificate of insurance, MOT certificate, and a cheque could be replaced by a phone call or on line transaction in the next two years. The Driver Vehicle Licencing Agency launched a pilot telephone re-licensing scheme in 1999 in partnership with an insurance company and a motor manufacturer and a customer survey found a 98 per cent satisfaction rate.Extension of the scheme, which will also include on line renewal, depends on a new database of vehicle insurances being constructed by the Association of British Insurers and the Vehicle Inspectorate completing a national MOT database.

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Faster, cheaper, always-on access to online services is the goal of a strategy set out in a new report “UK online: the broadband future”. It supports the Government’s objectives of achieving universal access to the Internet by 2005 and the wider drive to develop the UK as a leading knowledge economy. New targets require the UK to have the most extensive and competitive broadband market in the G7 countries by 2005 and significantly increased broadband connections to all schools, libraries, further education colleges and universities.Broadband is the next leap forward for the Internet and will help to deliver the overall objectives of UK online, the public service portal. For consumers, broadband will mean a faster, more efficient internet and bring to an end the wait for pages to download. It will also offer opportunities for web-based interactive learning programmes as well as infotainment services such as streamed video and radio conferencing. Research from the US shows that consumers with broadband spend four times as long online and engage in a wider range of e-commerce activities than those with traditional narrowband connections.

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