RESEARCH FOR SMALL FIRMS

I should like to set the scene by giving you an outline of that part of B.I.S.R.A. (British Iron and Steel Research Association) organization with which I am connected, as this will explain the scope and depth of our interests in the small‐firm field and provide a background against which the later part of the talk will be more easily understood. I also intend to stop in time to deal with questions, or indeed to hear views from the floor, because, as you will hear, one of the principles I shall put to you is that formal lecturing and presentation of reports is, in our small‐firm world, less effective than discussion as a means of presenting ideas.