This book addresses the issues concerned with the achievement of world class competitiveness by major international companies. It is the story of creating success where failure was endemic and demonstrating that so-called Japanese management techniques can be applied elsewhere by other western companies to attain market supremacy. It is a book based on personal experience but related to theory and thus is of use to the reader trying to change where they work for the better as well as providing answers to a number of commonly asked questions: * Why are the Japanese so consistently successful? * Can we compete and become World Class using our culture and Japanese management techniques? * Is there a manufacturing future for the UK and Europe in the face of competition from the Pacific Basin? * How do we achieve world class competitiveness? How do you start this in your business? 'I learnt a great deal from (Becoming World Class) and I would be surprised if there is ... anybody who wants to do business with the Japanese or to succeed in world competitive terms who will not find something worthwhile in this book.' - Sir John Harvey-Jones

Box set featuring six Shakespeare adaptations starring legendary actor Laurence Olivier. In 'King Lear' (1983), the ageing King Lear (Olivier) decides to split his kingdom between three daughters - Regan, Cordelia and Goneril - with each receiving a share appropriate to the amount of love they feel for him. However, when the faithful Cordelia refuses to protest her devotion, an enraged Lear foolishly cedes complete control to the devious remaining siblings - with terrible results. In 'Henry V' (1944), the young king (Olivier) puts his rakish past behind him and rallies his men to invade France, winning against the enemy's superior numbers. The film was shot in Ireland to avoid the constant bombardment of the Blitz and Olivier was discharged from the Navy to make the film. In 'Hamlet' (1948), Hamlet (Olivier), Prince of Denmark, is still mourning over the death of his father and his mother Gertrude's (Eileen Herlie) subsequent remarriage to Hamlet's despised uncle, Claudius (Basil Sydney), who is now King. When his father's ghost appears to Hamlet and reveals that it was Claudius who murdered him, the young prince vows revenge. However, a fatal flaw in his character - hesitation - mars his efforts, resulting in murder, madness and treachery. In 'The Merchant of Venice' (1974), Jewish moneylender Shylock (Olivier) provides young Antonio (Anthony Nichols) with a loan, stating that if it is not repaid he will claim a pound of flesh. When Antonio's bond defaults, Shylock attempts to claim his grisly compensation in a court of law, but Portia (Joan Plowright) pleads Antonio's case. In 'Richard III' (1955), Olivier stars as the cold and calculating king, a treacherous and untrustworthy fellow who makes plans to kill anyone who threatens his position. Henry Stafford (Ralph Richardson), the Duke of Clarence (John Gielgud) and Lady Anne Neville (Claire Bloom) are just some of those moving in his orbit. 'As You Like It' (1936) was filmed in England in 1936 when Olivier was still considered a promising young actor rather than one of the finest thespians ever, as he would later become, this is his first filmed Shakespeare performance and thus a milestone in film history.

Opportunities always exist for those with skills and relevant experience to create and build a business of their own. And if it's a service industry that you are offering it is possible to start from your home with very little or no capital outlay. Many one person start-ups are capable of providing significantly higher income than is provided through employment - and they have the potential to grow. This book sets out the essential aspects of running a small business, and explains the commercial frameworks that apply for trades, professions, personal and management services, agencies, trading activities and creative concepts. It includes: * Defining your market and studying the competition * Specifying your product or service * Pricing and marketing your product or service * Calculating risk and breakeven * Budgeting and keeping records * Using other services and professionals * Understanding the basics of commercial law * Structuring your business for tax efficiency * Employing staff * Acquiring or renting property * Dealing with expansion

Three feature-length Doctor Who adventures. In 'Doctor Who and the Silurians' (1970), Jon Pertwee stars as the third Doctor, who is called to an atomic research station in Derbyshire to investigate a series of mysterious events. His questions uncover a vicious ring of in-house saboteurs and something a bit more slimy. In 'The Sea Devils' (1972), after visiting their old enemy the Master (Roger Delgado) in his remote island prison, the Doctor (Pertwee) and Jo learn of several recent accidents at sea, all of which have been accompanied by reported sightings of strange monsters. The Doctor discovers that the creatures responsible are the Sea Devils, acquatic cousins of the Silurians who are out to reclaim the planet Earth from mankind. In 'Warriors of the Deep' (1983), The Doctor (Peter Davison), Tegan and Turlough arrive at an underwater base on an Earth in the future on the brink of Atomic War. Helping to trigger this war are the planet's original inhabitants, the Silurians and the Sea Devils, aided by their killer pantomime horse, the Myrka.

Sid James triple. In 'The Big Job' (1965), a gang of hapless crooks successfully perpetrate a robbery only to be caught after the fact. Fifteen years later they emerge from prison intent on retrieving their stolen loot - and discover that a police station has been built over its hiding place. Sylvia Syms, Dick Emery, Jim Dale and Joan Sims co-star. In 'Make Mine a Milluion' (1959), an ad-man teams up with a make-up artist in a cunning plot to advertise Bonko detergent on non-commercial television. Despite the trouble it causes, the plan proves a great success and the two chaps soon set up a pirate television station with the intention of beaming their advertisements into other company's TV shows. Again the idea proves successful - but just how long can these two go on avoiding their come-uppance? 'The Lavender Hill Mob' (1951) is a classic Ealing comedy. Nobody would ever suspect gold bullion delivery man Henry Holland (Alec Guinness) of anything other than total devotion to his job. However, with the aid of fellow lodger Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway), he gathers together a gang to carry out a heist, intending to smuggle the gold out of the country by melting it down into miniature models of the Eiffel Tower. All goes well until the consignment of models becomes muddled up with another, non-golden batch. Watch out for an early cameo by Audrey Hepburn.

Embarking on a cruise from Gibraltar and heading off to Barcelona, Rome and Pisa and Florence, eight passengers meet at dinner and, from that moment on, their lives are inextricably linked as they cruise between beautiful cities and historic sites. So, let's meet our companions for dinner... Nat Mbele, American businessman, who left his wife but found only guilt; Maude, retired schoolteacher, who has never previously left Scotland and now feels all at sea; Mark, divorced with two children, wants to expand his life, but will a cruise bring him the new horizons he is hoping for? Veronica, already living in the south of France, recently lost her third husband and has learnt that money is nothing without love; Retired barrister, Ralph, always on the lookout for a good time... especially if it involves sex, but at what cost? Liz, a spinster with a successful career in the city but a yearning for more; Darren, computer whizz kid from the East End, who struggles to fit in; and Charlotte, recently divorced, and far from over it... Thrown together, and crisscrossing the sea, all eight have a chance to change, but will they get their problems shipshape before the final port? Or could they be disembarking with more baggage than when they weighed anchor?

A collection of five classic Ealing comedies. 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' (1949) is a period comedy set in the early 20th century. Young Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) vows to take revenge on his family, the D'Ascoynes, when he learns how they disinherited his mother. Working his way into their trust, Louis begins to bump off his distant relatives (all played by Alec Guinness) one by one, but complications set in when Edith D'Ascoyne (Valerie Hobson), the widow of his first victim, falls in love with him. In 'The Ladykillers' (1955), eccentric landlady Mrs Wilberforce (Katie Johnson) believes her new lodger Professor Marcus (Guinness) and his associates the Major (Cecil Parker), Louis (Herbert Lom), Harry (Peter Sellers) and One-Round (Danny Green) to be amateur musicians. They are in fact, however, the perpetrators of a bank heist, looking to whisk their ill-gotten gains out of London. All goes well until Mrs Wilberforce is persuaded by Marcus to claim his 'trunk' from the station; it is only then that the criminal genius's carefully laid plans begin to go awry. In 'The Man in The White Suit' (1951), Sidney Stratton (Guiness) is a laboratory cleaner in a textile factory who invents a material that will neither wear out nor become dirty. Initially hailed as a great discovery, Sidney's astonishing invention is suffocated by the management when they realise that if it never wears out, people will only ever have to purchase one suit of clothing. In 'Passport to Pimlico' (1949), an unexploded bomb goes off in Pimlico, uncovering documents which reveal that this part of London in fact belongs to Burgundy in France. An automonous state is set up in a spirit of optimism, but the petty squabbles of everyday life soon shatter the Utopian vision of a non-restrictive nation. Finally, in 'The Lavender Hill Mob' (1951), nobody would ever suspect gold bullion delivery man Henry Holland (Guinness) of anything other than total devotion to his job. However, with the aid of fellow lodger Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway), he gathers together a gang to carry out a heist, intending to smuggle the gold out of the country by melting it down into miniature models of the Eiffel Tower. All goes well until the consignment of models becomes muddled up with another, non-golden batch. Watch out for an early cameo by Audrey Hepburn.

Swashbuckling action adventure set in the mid 17th century. George Baker stars as Earl Anthony - aka The Moonraker - a gentleman Cavalier who is the thorn in the side of Oliver Cromwell (John Le Mesurier) and his mission to rid Britain of the royalists. Feared among Cromwell's men, the Moonraker has already effected the escape of over 30 royalists to France, a feat he pulls off by assuming the identity of a Puritan scholar. However, his audacious actions run into trouble when he attempts to lead Prince Charles Stuart (Gary Raymond) to safety after a defeat at the hands of the Roundhead soldiers.