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Innovation in physical distribution (PD) is easily copied, so best practice rapidly achieves universal application and thus PD becomes a commodity back-office function. However, as a core component of the supply chain, PD is wrapped up in the current paradigm of ª competing supply chainsº . Competing firms, therefore, tend to run competing PD systems even though logic suggests that to remove PD from the competitive arena may unlock inter-firm efficiencies and thus cost savings. The reasons why this logic is ignored include branding, organisational cultures of control, market aggression and reluctance to disagregate vertically systems which were assembled during periods of innovative development. Whilst there are clearly supply chain elements that continue to contribute to competitive edge, such as range, product development, procurement and replenishment strategies and information systems, is it now the case that better value can be delivered for customers through the horizontal integration of competing distribution systems? These issues are explored through research in the UK food retailing industry, with the conclusion that a combination of certain circumstances, in the presence of given enablers, may remove distribution systems from the competitive arena.

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A sample of 2,276 boys and girls in the sixth forms of English grammar-schools completed a questionnaire which included items on religious belief and practice. Results indicate that the incidence of belief is lower than in the adult population, though reported frequency of church-going is higher. Grounds are offered for thinking that the several indices of belief and practice may not be functionally equivalent. Boys are less religious than girls, and have a less benevolent conception of God. Girls in co-educational schools are significantly less religious than girls in single-sex schools. Boys in co-educational schools are less religious only if they are studying science. Reasons are given for thinking that the effects of COeducation cannot be explained in the same way for the two sexes.The main purposes of the present study are as follows:I. To provide evidence of the incidence of certain indices of religious belief and practice in a socially-defined segment of the population. This is defined as all boys and girls in the second year of the sixth forms of maintained grammar-schools in England.2. To examine how, for this population, the different indices are related to each other.3. To discover some of the factors related to belief in God, and in particular to examine the relationship between experience of co-education and belief.The data to be discussed form part of the results of a large-scale, questionnaire survey concerned primarily with problems of religious education. Those findings which relate specifically to religious education will be reported elsewhere. METHODThe instrument used was a questionnaire. After a series of reformulations and a pilot study, a form was finally evolved which contained a number of closed, multiple-choice items, and a number of open, essay-type questions. The topics covered, apart from factual questions of age, parental occupation and subject studied, were : religious belief and practice, the Bible, the Church, religious education in schools, and certain moral issues. Only the first of these will be discussed here. On average, the questionnaire took a little over one hour to complete. In addition, a short questionnaire was sent to the parents of pupils, dealing with their own religious beliefs and practices, and their views on religious education. The questionnaires were distributed and completed during the school year 1963-64. SamplingA list of IOO schools, drawn at random from the total number of maintained grammarschools in England, excluding Scotland and Wales, was obtained from the Ministry of Education, and the headmasters and headmistresses invited to co-operate. Sixteen schools declined. Of these, twelve gave fairly full reasons for refusing, all of which were of a practical nature and none of which suggested a relevant, systematic bias. However, the 23

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