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Recent years have seen the growth of pre-employment training initiatives focusing on developing generic skills amongst the long-term unemployed in an attempt to ensure their access to jobs in the service economy. This article is concerned with the effectiveness of such training, focusing specifically on initiatives designed to equip trainees with the generic skills required for call centre work. Drawing upon data gathered via case study research carried out in the North East of England, the article considers the extent to which the training schemes studied were successful in improving the employability of participants. In doing so, it contributes to current debates about the implications of economic restructuring for the nature of work, skills and labour market disadvantage.

This paper attempts to reflect critically on the role which telephone call centers might play in the economic development of rural places in the 'information age', drawing mainly on a case study of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. It argues that although call center employment tends mainly to be urban‐based, the growth of this form of work does present opportunities for some rural areas. The paper considers the locational factors rural areas would have to possess or develop in order to attract such work. It suggests call centers can make a valuable, though limited, contribution towards rural economic development, principally through the creation of additional employment opportunities and the stimulation of new skills and competencies. It also suggests that call centers do not represent a panacea for rural areas and that, indeed, it would be dangerous for rural areas to become over‐reliant on employment in this sector.

This article considers the role of call centres in the economic development of less favoured regions (LFRs). It suggests that call centres represent a new form of mobile service work which these regions are increasingly seeking to attract. It considers the factors which are important in attracting this work. It then explores the policies adopted by two LFRs which have been reasonably successful in doing so. It suggests that there are a number of benefits from the attraction of call centres, particularly employment opportunities not otherwise available in such regions. It also strikes a note of caution, however, questioning, in particular, whether these jobs will last.

The concept of social innovation has become pervasive among practitioners and academics, though its definition remains elusive. This paper seeks to address this by suggesting a distinction between structural social innovation, which refers to wide social change in scale and scope, targeted versions of social innovation, which can be either radical or complementary to current socio-economic institutions, and instrumental social innovation, when it is used to rebrand previous agendas in a way that is more appealing to stakeholders. These four types of social innovation are discussed referring to practical examples in the literature. We then explore ways in which the concept could be further developed by engaging with the concepts of socio-technical transitions and the foundational economy.

Investigates ways in which the new information society might contribute to economic development at the regional level & help to lessen the gap between central & peripheral regions. Reports & policy statements by the Commission of the European Communities are optimistic that combining information-based goods & services with diffuse electronic networks can help offset the "tyranny of geography" that has relegated certain areas to the nether regions of social & economic participation. Here, the development of a telecommunications infrastructure in various European regions is outlined, exploring how the adoption of new information & communications technologies gives peripheral regions enhanced work mobility by (1) industrializing the service sector, (2) creating a spatial separation of production & consumption, & (3) allowing firms to manage at a distance. Barriers to such development are identified, & the concept of "learning region" is introduced to describe the prerequisites necessary to successful adoption of information & communication technologies at both the individual & organizational levels. 2 Tables, 1 Figure. K. Hyatt Stewart

This paper examines the demutualisation of the British building societies, the trend during the 1990s for these mutual financial institutions run on behalf of their members and without external shareholders to convert to public limited companies. Demutualisation resulted from cultural change within senior management in mutual societies, which undermined their support for the idea of mutual ownership. This cultural change was a consequence of the deeper integration of mutual societies into the retail financial services sector where a different business culture was dominant. Though government has ignored the wider social impact of demutualisation, it has in fact undermined their attempts to encourage more socially inclusive forms of delivery for personal financial services. The paper makes a case for recognition of the contribution of mutual building societies to the development of more socially responsible corporate strategies. The recent wave of demutuahsations also highlights the need for mutuals to encourage greater membership involvement in the running of the organisation.

The authors examine the impact of the remote delivery of financial services on the branch network of British building societies. The current phase of branch-network rationalisation in the financial sector in Europe and North America is argued in the academic literature to be the inevitable consequence of the growth of electronic and telemediated forms of delivery of financial services. In the British building society sector, despite some evidence of branch closure as the use of the Internet and telephone call centres in the delivery of financial services has grown, the picture that emerges is of a dynamic branch network that is responding to changing customer demands and new technological possibilities. Face-to-face advice and discussions between customers and trained 'experts' remain an important part of the mortgage transaction. In the savings market, where products have become more commodified, telephone call centres and, more recently, the Internet have become more prominent, but institutions still rely heavily on the branch network to deliver services. The authors suggest that, although there have been changes in the relative importance of different distribution channels as sources of business in the financial sector, it is wrong to view these changes in terms of a simple branch-versus-direct dichotomy. A more complex picture is presented, with most institutions adopting a multichannel approach to the delivery of financial services, and electronic forms of delivery of financial services being developed as an additional delivery channel alongside the branch.