The next section looks at the aspirations of those setting up distance education systems, the economics and costs of such systems, and the process of planning a distance education system from scratch (chapters 3-5). Chapters 6-11 consider aspects of planning and management – organisation, staffing, planning, budgeting, the management of the academic processes related to materials development and the provision of local student services, production management (the management of materials production and distribution), operations management (the management of the delivery of student services) – and the impact of new technology on production and operations management, and finally, evaluation. The short concluding chapter draws together some of the themes running through the book.