Insurers, Claims and the Boundaries of Good Faith

This article examines the refusal of the English courts to award damages for consequential losses following unreasonable delay on the part of insurers in settling a claim. This has the potential to give rise to dire consequences for insureds. These difficulties have been addressed in North American jurisdictions where the concept of good faith has been developed and applied as a means of both compensating insureds and regulating the conduct of insurers. However, a hallmark of English law is that it fails to draw a bright line between the law of contract and the law of contracts. As a result, the policy issues that should inform insurance contracts are excluded by virtue of the notion, imported from the law of contract, that the contractual relationship is a matter of private law and is not, therefore, a means for public regulation of insurers.     

Evaluating industrial modernization: Methods, results, and insights from the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance

This paper examines the experience of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance (GMEA) in implementing an evaluation of its industrial extension services. As part of the U.S. Manufacturing Extension partnership, GMEA provides assistance to manufacturers to resolve industrial and business problems and upgrade technology, training, and business performance, focusing primarily on firms within the state of Georgia. The program has established an evaluation component along with other assessment and review mechanisms. Several evaluation methods are employed, including customer surveys, economic analyses of benefits and costs, controlled studies, and logic-based case studies. The article examines the strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches, reviews the insights each method offers, and discusses how the resulting evaluative information is used.     

Contrasting perspectives on the evaluation of industrial modernization: Introduction to the symposium

This paper examines the experience of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance (GMEA) in implementing an evaluation of its industrial extension services. As part of the U.S. Manufacturing Extension partnership, GMEA provides assistance to manufacturers to resolve industrial and business problems and upgrade technology, training, and business performance, focusing primarily on firms within the state of Georgia. The program has established an evaluation component along with other assessment and review mechanisms. Several evaluation methods are employed, including customer surveys, economic analyses of benefits and costs, controlled studies, and logic-based case studies. The article examines the strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches, reviews the insights each method offers, and discusses how the resulting evaluative information is used. The views expressed in this paper are the authors' and not necessarily those of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance or its sponsoring organizations.     

Assessment of a video system for scanning DNA autoradiographs

A video based scanning system had been developed for processing DNA autoradiographs (T. Catterick and J.R. Russell, Lab. Microcomput. (1991), in press). Before the scanner was used in casework it was necessary to assess its performance. Test DNA samples containing fragments (alleles) of known kilobase size were run against the primary (Amersham, U.K.) calibration ladder. The resulting autoradiographs were processed with the new video scanner and also using manual, ruler based measurements. Comparisons were then made between these experimental results and also with the known kilobase values quoted by the supplier of the test samples.