Fast Track: Bulletin Board

Net profit

Electronic commerce, "the long-heralded, yet largely unrealised 'killer application' of the Internet", is poised for 300 per cent growth within two years, according to a report by the consultants Deloitte & Touche. Banking, energy and retailing as well as the public sector are among the most enthusiastic converts to the new medium of e-commerce, it says.

Macho muddle

Women are more organised than men - and it is not just the women who think so, according to a Gallup survey issued last week. The research carried out to coincide with the launch of Canon's new range of personal organisers found that two-thirds of women claimed to be organised as opposed to just over half of all men, while two thirds of men thought that women were more organised.

Matter of courses

DataTrain, a leading provider of training in Oracle software, is responding to the increasing demand for qualified IT specialists by extending its school for graduates. There will be three three-month courses between October and next June, with an additional summer programme.

South Africa scholarships

Unilever, the multinational consumer goods company, is awarding scholarships to South African students from disadvantaged backgrounds to study in the UK and receive work experience. The company will be investing more than pounds 3m over the next 10 years in the Nelson Mandela Scholarships, which form part of the Unilever Foundation for Education and Development. Unilever sees the scheme as reflecting its experience that placing individuals in different cultures and countries accelerates leadership development.

Interviews made easy

Management development consultancy ABMD is tackling job candidates' fears about attending assessment centres with a three-hour evening workshop to be held in London next month. ABMD, based in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, claims that this is the first workshop to explain the mysteries of role plays, psychometric tests, group discussion and other assessment activities. For further information, call 01753-892494.