bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Board-Staff Relations and Perceived Effectiveness in Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: Herman Robert D. , Tulipana F. Peter
Published: March 2007

Boards of directors perform both internal and external functions. After reviewing research on the external function, this paper reports the results of an empirical study of the internal role. Based upon responses from 142 people in seven private nonprofit organizations the study finds that: (1) participants experience less actual influence than they think they should have; (2) board members' influence is posi tively related to the frequency of board meetings and the extent to which board members feel informed of their duties, though neither is very strong; (3) ratings of organizational effectiveness are positively related to board member ratings of staff educational sufficiency and the extent to which board members feel informed of their duties; and (4) at the organizational level of analysis, organizational effective ness is strongly related to the amount of total influence in the organization though this result seems to be based mostly on the strong relation between the influence of the executive director and effectiveness, as effectiveness is unrelated to board influ ence and positively related to the difference in influence between the executive di rector and the board.
The Implication of Board Member Composition for Fund-Raising Success
Authors: Plambeck Donald L.
Published: March 2007

United Ways are local community-based fund raising and planning organizations that exist in most cities in the United States and Canada. The effectiveness of these organizations in fund raising for community agency services, varies from commu nity to community. This variation occurs even when the fund raising practices utilized by the organizations are similar. This article reports the results of a study that examined United Way organizations seeking to identify variables related to the governing boards that were unique to the organizations that achieved high fund raising results. The study sample consisted of four United Ways located in the mid-west. The results of the study indicated that certain board leadership variables were present in successful United Ways that were not present, or present to a lesser degree in less successful United Ways. These variables included attendance at board meetings, composition of the board, and length of residence in the community. Although the sample was limited to United Way organization the results of the study can have significance for any type of community-based nonprofit organiza tion.
Managing Expectations: What Effective Board Members Ought to Expect from Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: McAdam Terry W. , Gies David L.
Published: March 2007

Expectations are one key component of the glue which holds an organization to gether. When expectations are not explicitly developed and clearly communicated, effective relations between board and staff are not likely. This article prescribes the basic expectations an effective board member should have, especially regarding key organizational factors such as: administration and management information, fiscal information, and human resource management. Fifteen specific questions are de scribed which will provide board members and the executive staff with one useful set of tools to insure effective communication of expectations.
Mexican Voluntary Associations: A Community Study
Authors: Koldewyn Phillip
Published: March 2007

This article presents an overall view of voluntary action groups in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, a light industrial city of some 720,000 inhabitants. During 1983-84, 354 groups were identified, and 98 of them were studied in depth. Labor unions, cooperatives, neighborhood associations, and small savings clubs were found to be of substantial importance among lower income groups. Important re lationships were discovered between government and voluntary agencies, many of them competitive or co-optative. The paper includes some comparisons between Leon and Neuquen, Argentina, where the author studied voluntary associations in 1981-82.
Extending University Resources in Support of Volunteer Development: Evaluation of a Pilot Effort
Authors: Miller Robert W.
Published: March 2007

In 1980, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University established a Center for Volunteer Development. The broad purpose of the Center, specified under terms of a five-year Kellogg Foundation grant, was to enhance the effectiveness of volun teers and volunteer organizations in Virginia. Specific objectives were to: (1) deliver needed assistance to volunteer organizations upon request; (2) facilitate inclusion of the study of volunteerism in the University's curriculum; (3) involve other post secondary institutions in programs supporting volunteer development. A major program challenge was to successfully employ the University's statewide network of Extension offices to link campus-based faculty expertise to volunteer organiza tions requesting assistance. The purpose of this article is to present the findings of an external evaluation of the Center's effort. These findings indicate that: the Cen ter succeeded for the most part in involving Extension agents and faculty members as planned; meaningful assistance was delivered to a substantial number of volun teer organizations; progress was made toward including the study of volunteerism in coursework; and other postsecondary institutions were involved. The findings also show that a range of problems were encountered. Conclusions based on these findings are offered.
Self-Help Groups and Governmental Policy in the Netherlands
Authors: van Harberden Pieter , Raymakers Trudy
Published: March 2007

The emergence of self-help groups in Holland has paralleled the changeover from a liberal-constitutional state, fueled by economic expansion to a welfare state. Gov ernmental activity with respect to supportive social policies and legislative enact ments has, however, been far more limited than one might expect given the interest shown in the self-help phenomenon by the Council of Europe and the World Health Organization. The reasons for the current stance of the Dutch government with respect to the legitimation of self-help activity are examined in the context of institutionalization.: only groups and organizations that fit into the institutional care system or fit within specific local policies are eligible for contributions and other forms of support by the government or municipality. The article concludes by examining the conditions under which social advocacy can be more successful in reaching the goals for which self-help groups stand.
A Comprehensive Systems Approach to Promoting Mutual Aid Self-Help Groups: The New Jersey Self-Help Clearinghouse Model
Authors: Madara Edward J.
Published: March 2007

This article describes the programs (including consultative services) offered by the New Jersey Clearinghouse which are designed to address seven primary needs or goals of self-help and professional helper constituencies: e.g., promoting the in creased identification, awareness, utilization, development, understanding, profes sional interface, and networking of MASH groups. The New Jersey model relies on a computerized IBM System 34 operation, embracing a state-wide data base, a printed self-help group directory as well as toll-free telephone lines within New Jersey.
Self-Help Clearinghouses: Promoting Collaboration Between Professionals and Volunteers
Authors: Hermalin Jared A.
Published: March 2007

A study of nine U.S. self-help clearinghouses reveals the wide range of services offered to self-lielp groups, professionals, individual consumers, and the com munity-at-large. The important roles played by volunteers in the performance of clearinghouse activities is highlighted, as is the role of the clearinghouse in fostering positive collaboration between professionals and self-help group volunteers. Clear inghouse similarities and differences are discussed, as well as variations in admin istrative functioning Given the extensive number of self-help groups/chapters known to the clearinghouses and the wide array of technical assistance available, clearinghouses provides an important vehicle for community volunteers and profes sionals seeking to expand the human service delivery system.
Volunteering as Linkage in the Three Sectors
Authors: DeLaat Jacqueline
Published: March 2007

The public, the for-profit market, and the nonprofit sectors are often viewed as separate and somewhat competitive segments of society. Voluntary efforts are most commonly associated exclusively with the nonprofit sector. This paper argues that it is not useful to view the three sectors as inviolately separate, nor as competitive. Rather, the author suggests that the sectors are linked in a variety of ways. In particular, the activities of volunteers in all three sectors link them. These voluntary activities also help to reduce competition between the three sectors. Several distinct types of volunteer activities are discussed in support of this argument. First, the author examines the wide range of volunteer activities that occur outside the nonprofit sector. Volunteer activities occur in the public sector, related to cam paigns, policy planning, policy implementation, and policy evaluation. Volunteer activities also occur in the for-profit market sector, often in connection with paid work roles. Volunteer activity in connection with work may be an expansion of the work role, related to professional advancement, or a form of work. The latter sug gests a reformulation of volunteering as a variant of work activity, rather than something apart from paid work roles. Occurrence of volunteering in all three sectors questions the notion of clear conceptual separation between them. Individu als move freely between the three sectors, in both paid and unpaid roles. These individuals perceive commonalities of interest among the sectors. They bring under standing of one sector into the other two. They can propose solutions to conflicts between the sectors, because they are part of all the sectors. They carry information from one sector into the others. In all these ways, individuals moving between the three sectors of society, in both paid and unpaid roles, contribute to closer linkage of the sectors and reduced competition between them.
Cold Nights and Long Days A Comparison of Male and Female Volunteers in a Night Shelter
Authors: Anderson Ralph , Osmus Kyra Jones
Published: March 2007

Grassroots night shelters are becoming a common local reaction to the all too common experience of the homeless suffering and sometimes freezing to death on city streets. With government funds unavailable, many communities have turned to churches for leadership in addressing the problem. Frequently the result is a volun teer administered and staffed human service organization. One example is St. Mat thew's Night Shelter in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Seventeen churches and a variety of unaffiliated individuals direct and staff the shelter for three months each winter. St. Matthew's just completed the second year of operation. Nearly two hundred volun teers spent a night at the shelter each of the first two winters. Despite serving only homeless males, nearly 50 women volunteered each year. When analyzed, the nightly log and the survey data collected after the first year indicated an interesting pattern of differences between male and female volunteer experience. Men appear to focus on the simple purpose of the shelter, that is, keeping homeless men off the streets during the winter months. Women seemed to more often have a personal developmental experience as they got to know, to a small degree, the men of the streets. The paper argues that the differences are a natural consequence of different value systems which evolve from very different value patterns of male/female socialization in American culture.
Developing a Universe of Nonprofit Organizations: Methodological Considerations
Authors: Gronbjerg Kirsten A.
Published: March 2007

By using tested approaches to identifying the universe of local or regional populations of nonprofit organizations, researchers and pol icymakers can begin to study a variety of factors affecting voluntary organizations more effectively.
Organizational Survival in an Environment of Austerity
Authors: Reiner Thomas A.
Published: March 2007

In the turbulent and competitive environment of contemporary social service, government may seek to transfer important program func tions to nonprofit organizations. Subjected to management control mechanisms, such as caps, and expectations of self-sufficiency, nonprofits often seek to establish an institutional entitlement for continuing support. Aspects of the complex relationship between government and nonprofits are explored in a case study of New York state's Neighborhood Preservation Program.
Planning as Strategy in Nonprofit Organizations: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Stone Melissa M.
Published: March 2007

This exploratory study examines formal planning processes in two different nonprofit organizations, those serving the mentally retarded and those in the performing arts, in two distinct geographical areas. Significant differences existed in the major types of Planning pro cesses employed by these nonprofits that seemed to relate to the nature of their funding environments. Important internal and exter nal factors influenced whether these forty-four nonprofits adopted plans for such matters as the size of the organization's budget, the primary function of its board of directors, and interaction with other local nonprofit managers engaged in formal planning. Differences in the extent of planning behavior between the two geographical areas suggests that local structures that support professional manage rial practices influence the diffusion of such practices.
Dimensions of Interdependence: The State and Voluntary-Sector Relationship
Authors: Saidel Judith R.
Published: March 2007

The relationship between state government, executive branch agen cies, and nonprofit organizations with government contracts is best understood as one of dynamic interdependence. There are at least three overlapping dimensions of interdependence: (1) resource exchange, (2) political, and (3) administrative. Data collected from state agencies and nonprofits and the literature of bureaucratic poli tics and organization theory, especially that on power dependence and resource dependence, make important contributions to this theo retical framework.
Voluntary Action in the Welfare State: The Italian Case
Authors: Pasquinelli Sergio
Published: March 2007

Voluntary action has invaded the Italian social scene. In the last fifteen years the phenomenon has gone through remarkable changes not only in the quantity of volunteer groups but also in the sectors of action, the organizational structures, and the actors involved. After tracing the major features of the Italian welfare scene, this paper summarizes the main characteristics of Italian voluntary action, pay ing particular attention to the growth that occurred and to the "new" forms of commitment that have emerged. The necessity t) move toward microlevel research projects is then examined in order to see how voluntary action and partnerships with public agencies are con structed. Relationships with statutory bodies are then analyzed, and their main feature is discussed, that is, the contradiction between what groups actually propose (different meanings and alternative ways of responding to social needs) and what they are considered and valued for. The final part of the paper is an attempt to avoid an umpteenth discussion of the roles played by the voluntary sector in the welfare scene. A key for conceptualizing relationships with public agencies is proposed, a key capable of distinguishing ideology and structure without separating them.
Responsibility for Critical Events in Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: Heimovics Richard D. , Herman Robert D.
Published: March 2007

The commonplace view of nonprofit organizations sees the board in control and responsible for the governance and outcomes of impor tant events in the organization. This point of view is empirically examined by analyzing how chief executives of nonprofit organiza tions and their board presidents attribute responsibility for outcomes of critical incidents. The results suggest both chief executives and board presidents believe in the "psychological centrality" of the chief executive in a hierarchy of responsibility for organizational outcomes. The authors discuss how those in responsible positions in nonprofit organizations come to understand and explain the reality of their organizational experience and raise the implications for a theory of nonprofit organizations.
Corporate Philanthropy: Strategic Responses to the Firm's Stakeholders
Authors: Logsdon Jeanne M. , Reiner Martha , Burke Lee
Published: March 2007

Corporate decisions about philanthropic contributions have become more strategic in recent years. Contributions aim not only to benefit recipient nonprofit organizations but also to fulfill major business objectives. This article develops a typology of strategic corporate philanthropy that distinguishes between strategic process and three strategic outcomes. It reports the extent of strategic philanthropy categories in an exploratory study of large firms headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. Relationships between strategic philan thropy and industry sector, organizational placement of the phil anthropy function, firm age, and firm size are identified.
State and Welfare Groups: Competition or Cooperation? Some Observations on the Israeli Scene
Authors: Yishai Yael
Published: March 2007

Voluntary welfare associations (VWAs) act both as pressure groups trans mitting demands from citizens to state and as functional groups cooperating with government in the formulation and implementation of public policies. Pressure is employed within the pluralist configuration, in which VWAs retain their autonomy vis-à-vis the state. Concerted action and partnership between state and associations occur under corporatism. In each model, a certain cost-benefit balance emerges. Under corporatism, the state devolves power in order to obtain legitimacy; associations forfeit their autonomy in order to gain integrated participation. Under pluralism, the state trades power for legitimacy; associations retain their autonomy at the expense of participation in decision making. This article examines the relevance of these ideas to the Israeli context. The corporatist relationship was expected to prevail when VWAs performed primary functions. When they fulfilled complementary roles, the relationship should tend to be pluralistic. These expectations were examined on eight VWAs, divided equally between the health (primary) and the handicapped (complementary) domains.
Israeli and U.S. Orientations Toward Self-Help Groups for Families in Crisis
Authors: Chesler Mark A. , Chesney Barbara , Gidron Benjamin
Published: March 2007

This article explores the orientations toward self-help and mutual support groups held by people facing family crises in the United States and Israel. People from four different kinds of self-help groups in the two nations— Parents of Children with Cancer and Parents of Murdered Children, from the United States, and Parents of Mentally Ill Children and Members of Families of New Immigrants, from Israel—report on the kinds of activities and programs that their self-help and mutual support groups undertake and on the benefits that they receive from participation. The results indi cate that these voluntary organizations can be helpful to people facing family crises. Further analysis distinguishes the differential impact on these reports of the types of family crises involved and the national cultures and social service systems of Israel and the United States.
Volunteer Fire and Rescue Corporations: Structure, Process, and Survival
Authors: Perkins Kenneth B.
Published: March 2007

This article outlines the structure and process of volunteer fire and emer gency medical corporations from a theoretical and practical perspective. Practical implications for the survival of these organizations are dis cussed—namely, strategies for increasing participation of minorities and building rational coproductive relationships between corporations and local government.
Gay AIDS Voluntarism as Political Activity
Authors: Kayal Philip M.
Published: March 2007

In a number of respects, the voluntary response of New York City's sizable gay community to AIDS, through Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), has been unique. In addition to its important advocacy and service-providing functions, the work of GMHC assumed significant polit ical dimensions that served to counter discrimination, empower the orga nization's adherents, and help preserve their sense of community in the face of a medical and social catastrophe.
Enterprise in Religious-Based Organizations
Authors: La Barbera Priscilla A.
Published: March 2007

Personal interviews of representatives of selected Jewish and Christian religious organizations yielded data on 105 commercial enterprises. Four case studies illustrate the types of religious enterprise that were identified. The sacred and secular dimensions of the assets and constraints that affect management in religious enterprise are also discussed. Sacred assets identified include committed leadership and staff, committed constituents, volunteers, working environment/spiritual vision, and spiritual tools. Tax exemption was identified as a secular asset. Sacred constraints identified were religious laws and imperatives, mission conflict, and refusal to exploit supporters. Secular constraints include staff compensation, limited busi ness experience, and threatened loss of tax exemption.
Do Nonprofit Boards Make a Difference? An Exploration of the Relationships Among Board Structure, Process, and Effectiveness
Authors: Bradshaw Pat , Murray Vic , Wolpin Jacob
Published: March 2007

The contribution of board structure and process dynamics to organiza tional and board effectiveness is the focus of this article. Based on data collected from a cross section of Canadian nonprofit organizations, the results show a positive association between the perception of board effec tiveness and the use of many of the most widely advocated prescriptions on how a nonprofit board of directors should operate. However, when objective indicators of organizational performance are examined, the link between performance and board behaviors is found to be more limited.
A Neglected Type of Voluntary Nonprofit Organization: Exploration of the Semiformal, Fluid-Membership Organization
Authors: Smith David Horton
Published: March 2007

The semiformal organization is identified as a neglected type of voluntary nonprofit organization. It is characterized by having no defined members or by treating as members any participants and by having an informal leadership structure and operation. Data from qualitative and quantitative research on local voluntary organizations in a small suburb confirm the presence of semiformal organizations (36 percent of the fifty-nine organi zations sampled) and indicate some of their correlates (including fewer officers, more open membership, fewer affiliates, and younger partici pants). The construct is especially important in measuring accurately the size of voluntary organizations. It is important to find out whether semi formal organization is a necessary phase in the development of voluntary organizations and what affects the transition to a fully formal organiza tion. For many semiformal organizations, informality seems an enduring characteristic, not just a stage.
The Commons: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Nonprofit Organization, Voluntary Action, and Philanthropy
Authors: Lohmann Roger A.
Published: March 2007

The task of identifying nonprofit organizations, voluntary action, and phil anthropy as the principal constituents of a single "sector" within the larger economy, society, and polity has been a central challenge for the multidis ciplinary paradigm that seems to be emerging in this field. The concepts of the commons and common goods are presented in this article as having important multidisciplinary implications. The commons is characterized by uncoerced participation, shared purposes and resources, mutuality, and fairness; the derivative concept of common goods is characterized as desir able ends that are universal and indivisible within a commons but not nec essarily beyond. Taken together, the concepts of the commons and common goods offer the basis for a shared paradigm that can resolve the sector problem.
Uncompensated Costs and Indigent Health Care: Volunteers and a Community Services Budget
Authors: Rosentraub Mark S. , Harlow Karen S. , Harris Michael
Published: March 2007

With thirty-seven million people now without medical insurance, private insurers have argued that caring for those unable to pay for the services they need or without insurance is a public responsibility and not an overhead cost. However, tax-conscious voters have limited the ability of governments to spend more for health. An additional and sometimes overlooked possibility for dealing with uncompensated care is the responses that local communities can make. A community services budget framework that includes the inputs of volunteers makes large-scale and sophisticated responses possible through forms of collective organization outside the usual public programs. This framework, applied to one community, illustrates the responses that are possible and the policy questions that must be addressed to expand the options for dealing with the challenge of uncompensated medical care.
Effectiveness of Nongovernmental and Nonprofit Organizations: Some Methodological Caveats
Authors: Williams Arthur R. , Kindle Chris
Published: March 2007

This article provides some caveats to the Boolean algebra procedure described by Robert Herman in the Fall 1990 issue of this journal. Several issues and doubts are raised concerning the use of this proce dure as a bridge between log-linear regression and combinational logic. The description of a method that the authors believe to be more appropriate for the study of organizational effectiveness follows. The authors agree with Herman that more studies of the organizational effectiveness of nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations are needed.
Library management styles and structures: a need to rethink?
Authors: Line Maurice B.
Published: March 2007

The situation in libraries has changed dramatically in the last few years. The range of skills required is greater than ever, but many of these are not library skills; they are in computing, systems design, marketing and so on. Staff have to learn to think and live in different ways. Greater flexibility, a different balance between middle- and lower-level staff, and a less rigidly hierarchical structure should result in a much more effective organization. Whereas, in the past, processes have dominated, now there is a need to identify what the market wants, that is, products the library should be offering. It is no longer enough for librarians to know how much they are spending; they need to know how well they are performing. Flatter structures, which can be implemented within a grade hierarchy, would help to achieve the necessary changes. A 'staff requirements audit' should be carried out to determine how many staff, at what level, and with what skills, are needed in the future. Greater delegation can start at any time. Strategic planning can be a good way for staff to learn new skills and attitudes and to handle change.
Developments in retrospective bibliography since 1975
Authors: Turner John R.
Published: March 2007

The recent decline in traditional librarianship caused by political, economic and technological factors, would be most likely to be felt in libraries specializing in rare book librarianship and where retrospec tive bibliographies are most heavily used. The predicted negative effect on publishers of retrospective bibli ographies has, however, failed to materialize and the period under review has seen the continuation of large projects, production of new editions and commissioning of completely new works. This paper presents some examples of printed bibliographies and examines the development of online databases such as the Eighteenth century short title catalogue (ESTC), the Incunable short title catalogue (ISTC), the Nineteenth century short title catalogue (NSTC and the retro spective works of the British Library (BNB) and Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). The promise of CD-ROM develop ments is noted with reference to the British Library Catalogue, REMARC and BNB and some future plans are outlined.
User education for overseas students in higher education in Scotland
Authors: Robertson Joan E.
Published: March 2007

Since the 1970s library user educa tion has been increasingly recog nized as an integral part of a student's academic career. However, the point that all students are not the same is inclined to be forgotten.
Public library buildings: a semiotic analysis
Authors: Wagner Gulten S.
Published: March 2007

Public library buildings are often an outcome of the complex political and social processes of planning. This complex decision-making pro cess is a binary system involving the following agents : the local and state authorities, librarians and pro fessional library organisations.

There is full agreement on the part of the state and the profession al associations that the public library buildings should carry sig nifiers of solidarity with the com munity (i.e., accessibility, openness, etc.). The survey with 46 executive librarians indicates the standards produced by these authorities are not able to alter the logic of the organising principles of the built environment regarding formal institutions. Taking the example of Perth, Western Australia, public library buildings were examined by applying semiotic methods. Semiotics by separating the expres sion (or the signifiers such as acces sibility and signage of a building) from the content (or the signified such as solidarity or lack of it) pro vided the necessary research tools for this analysis.
A Review of Some Modelling Approaches to the Loan and Duplication of Academic Texts
Authors: Warwick J.P.
Published: March 2007

Since the mid 1960s there has been considerable activity in the applica tion of mathematical models to library systems, in particular academ ic library systems. This paper reviews some of the approaches taken since then in trying to provide help to librarians, particularly in the areas of loan and duplication policy. The paper considers analytic and statisti cal models, stochastic models and simulation models, describing some of the major contributions in each area, with examples described where appropriate.
'An absolute necessity'
Authors: Wu Jian Zhong  , Harris John
Published: March 2007

Traces the history of Shanghai Public Library, from its founding in 1849 as the Shanghai Book Club and presents much additional information to update an earlier historical article (Haan, 1987). Describes: the transition from a book club to a subscription library; the problems of co-operation; growth of the service and improve ments leading to the transition to a public library; and the pressures of finance and accomodation forcing the final transfer of the library to the Shanghai Municipal Council in 1912. Concludes with a description of the period of its heaviest use, ironically coinciding with the Japanese occupa tion and the demise of the public library as an independent institution.
A soft system analysis of a CD-ROM network for a multi-site polytechnic
Authors: Knowles John
Published: March 2007

Presents results of a research project, carried out at Liverpool Polytechnic Library Services (now the John Moores University) in Summer 1991, to analyze the current CD-ROM facil ities and to evaluate the CD-ROM networking systems currently on the market that were best matched to the polytechnic's needs. The University has a multi-site city centre campus with 13 sites, each of which is joined to the campus Ethernet by fibre optics. The project aimed to find a CD-ROM local area network (LAN) solution that could be bridged into the campus Ethernet without causing severe degradation of the overall sys tem. The soft systems analysis approach involved looking at the effects of the current situation on users, in terms of antagonism between different types of users, antagonism between library staff and management, and the general increase in pressure on staff dealing with the running of the current CD- ROM system. Concludes with a sys tem specification for the recommended CD-ROM network.
Riding the Tiger
Authors: Storey Colin
Published: March 2007

Hong Kong librarians face a period of intense change on two fronts: the rapid changes in technology and fluc tuations in resources that are common to all librarians; and the unique and fundamental change in political sta tus that will come to Hong Kong in 1997. Traces the political history of Hong Kong as a backdrop for the dis cussion of Hong Kong libraries and librarians (including a profile of the membership of the Hong Kong Library Association) compared with those of the Chinese People's Republic (PRC). While expressing pessimism about the PRC's inten tions, Hong Kong librarians neverthe less feel that the progress made in library provision, over the previous 30 years is solid enough to continue and survive the political and economic changes ahead.
Old problems and tentative solutions
Authors: Roberts Norman
Published: March 2007

Information science is characterized by the consideration and reconsider ation of recurring, well established themes. This state reflects the lack of a stable consensus. It also supports a literature devoted to analysing flaws and proposing alternative research methods, professional expectations and attitudes. Three titles are reviewed from this perspective.
The role of the systems librarian in libraries in the United Kingdom
Authors: Muirhead Graeme A.
Published: March 2007

Reports the results of a survey, fund ed by the British Library, Research and Development Department, of systems librarian posts in UK libraries. Questionnaires were sent to 503 UK public, academic and other libraries, between October and December 1992, to determine the activities of systems librarians and the nature of the employing organi zations. Reports on the survey find ings concerning what systems librarians actually do, the kinds of stress they are exposed to, and the rewards of the job.
Constructing national library and information policy options for South Africa within the framework of educational transformation
Authors: Nassimbeni Mary
Published: March 2007

Describes the setting up and work of the Library and Information Services Research Group (LIS RG), one of 12 Research Groups set up as South Africa's largest research project into education and educational policy. The LIS RG consisted of representa tives from six South African organi zations and regional structures were set up in the Cape, Natal and Transvaal. The Group studies the fol lowing key areas: philosophy of library and information work; man agement of library and information services and provision of services; selection of materials and censorship; human resources and occupational structures; co-operation and net working ; and organized each research paper into the following sections: existing situation; emerging alterna tives ; comparative perspectives; and analysis of policy options. The find ings of the LIS RG are not presented and readers are referred to the final report or to the Framework report for the summarized version. Concentrates instead on explaining the conceptual framework within which the research was conducted, highlights some of the salient points, and comments on some of the ques tions left unanswered.
Information acquisition by users of hospital libraries: a comparison of Brazil and the UK
Authors: de C. Mendes H.M. , Meadows A.J.
Published: March 2007

The acquisition of relevant, up-to-date information is clearly of prime impor tance to medical staff. Though there have been numerous medical informa tion user studies, only a few have involved the observation of medical personnel as they are actually in the process of acquiring information. A form of participant-observation is employed here to examine the problems of medical staff acquiring information from formal sources located in hospital libraries. A teaching hospital library and two non-teaching hospital libraries have been studied in the UK along with three comparable hospital libraries in Brazil.

The results indicate that information requirements and library use in the two countries are distinctly similar, but the process of acquisition is affect ed by the differing information environment. Medical staff adapt to the ambient information environment as best they can. In fact, respondents in Brazil express only two major reservations — regarding the currency of information and the language of delivery — which do not appear in UK responses. Though transfer of innovatory practices from the UK to Brazil is therefore feasible (and desirable) in human terms, it is necessarily limited by the resources available.
Inequality in information provision: the case of school governors
Authors: Banwell Linda , Woodhouse Roger
Published: March 2007

Explores the proposition that inequality in information provision exists at the level of the individual user, in the context of state school governance in England and Wales, and examines the nature of the inequality and methods for investigating it. Constructs a model of the inequality, with scenarios, using data provided by 2 research projects undertaken at the Department of Information and Library Management, University of Northumbria at Newcastle: a British Library funded project ('School governors' access to information' (BLRD Report 6179)) and a South Tyneside Education project ('Identifying the training and information needs of school governors in South Tyneside'); involving questionnaire surveys of school governors in the South Tyneside area, UK. Results of the data analysis are used to generate a picture of the user needs of school governors as seen from the individual user's point of view. Concludes that strategies for overcoming inequality in infor mation provision at the level of the individual school governor can be suc cessfully developed and implemented and will result in a more flexible response from the designers and providers of services to individuals. A British Library Research and Development Department (BLRDD) contract has recently been awarded for a follow up study to 'School governors' access to information' (BLRD Report 6179) to investigate ways of overcoming the inequalities described here.
Micro Enterprise Training for Low-Income Women: the Case of the Community Entrepreneurs Programme
Authors: Dumas Colette
Published: March 2007

This article on the Centre for Women and Enterprise Community Entrepreneurs Programme (CEP) demonstrates the use of a case study as a research method. The CEP is an entrepreneurship training and education programme designed to help low- income women start their own businesses. This case analysis is an attempt to deter mine the initial outcomes of the community entrepreneurship programme. Evaluation results indicate that training provided to low-income women has indeed accom plished its goals—to help participants launch their own businesses, to empower them to achieve self-sufficiency through entrepreneurship and to advance the economic health of Boston's inner city neighbourhoods through micro enterprise and job cre ation. The evaluation findings suggest several implications for future practice and research on micro enterprise training and education programmes.
Entrepreneurial Success and Risk Perception among Small-scale Entrepreneurs of Eastern India
Authors: Panda Tapan K.
Published: March 2007

The paper is based on empirical research done on industrial units which are often categorised under the small-scale sector. The paper makes an attempt to explain the relationship that exists among various socio-economic variables with different success levels among the enterprises. The findings reveal that there are associations between the success levels of an enterprise with factors like technical education of the entrepreneur, occupational background of parents, previous background of the entrepreneur and capability to arrange working capital. The paper also brings out the entrepreneur's perception of risk namely, the functional risk and business risk. It makes an attempt to learn about the hindrances encountered by the entrepreneur. This research conducted in four Indian states thereby establishes the necessary interventions one could do to strengthen the small-scale sector which according to the author has both an economic as well as a social advantage over other sectors.
Association between Socio-economic Demographic Profile and Involvement of Women Entrepreneurs in their Enterprise Management
Authors: Kalyani W. , Chandralekha K.
Published: March 2007

Overall development of women entrepreneurs and their enterprise depends upon the degree to which these women are involved in various aspects related to the managing of enterprises. This therefore calls for a need to explore howfar women entrepreneurs are involved in the management of their enterprises. This, ifknown, will help professionals involved in capacity-building and other related aspects, plan for appropriate interventions. This paper makes an attempt to learn about women entrepreneurs who take initiatives to start their own enterprises. The paper also dwells upon factors that motivate women to initiate the launching of enterprises and then tries to understand those factors which constraints or supports their effective association in managing the enterprises. This under standing is expected to help us in understanding the external support these women obtain from their families and from other agencies. These findings are based on an exploratory survey on a sample of 300 women entrepreneurs in two urban centres. The result reveals that various socio-economic and demographic charac teristics have significant impact on involvement of women entrepreneurs in their enterprise management. It summarises that entrepreneurial development is a function of person in interaction with the environment.
The Role of Market Orientation in the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Proactiveness and Performance
Authors: Blesa Andreu , Ripollés Maria
Published: March 2007

The relationship between entrepreneurial proactiveness and business performance has often been implicitly assumed to be positive. The thrust in this argument is the firm's ability to anticipate needs in the marketplace and also to anticipate the action of its competitors. However, very little research has been done to examine this relationship. The present study makes an attempt to examine this relationship. The study makes an attempt to identify the role of market orientation as a moder ating factor between entrepreneurial proactiveness and business performance. The paper presents the results of the study carried out in the Spanish ceramic tile sector. The study used validated scales to measure the entrepreneurial proactive ness and market orientation. The statistical technique used is path analysis. The research concluded that entrepreneurial proactiveness has a positive effect on market orientation, which again in turn has a positive effect on business profitability and sales growth.
Globalised Research and Development: A Case Study of Bangalore, India
Authors: Kumaramangalam Kartik
Published: March 2007

There is an increasing trend towards globalisation of R&D activities in high technology firms. The paper delineates the forces which influence this trend and then presents an analysis of the complexities and opportunities the process offers in the context of the regional cluster of Bangalore in India. The paper relies mainly on a sample of high technology firms, both multinational and local, and tries to understand how they behave in this cluster. The paper then attempts to draw some broader conclusions on the nature of this phenomenon, both from the management of technology angle as well as from the science and technology policy perspectives.
The Making of Israeli High-technology Entrepreneurs: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Malach-Pines Ayala , Dvir Dov , Sadeh Arik
Published: March 2007

Israel has an unusually large number of high-technology entrepreneurs and companies. The influence of high-technology start-ups on the Israeli gross national product is enormous, with no proportion to its relative size in the local or international context. The phenomenon of Israeli high-technology entrepre neurs raised great curiosity worldwide but very little academic research attention. In this exploratory study, in-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-five Israeli high-technology entrepreneurs, focusing on their personal as well as professional backgrounds. Results suggest that the median successful Israeli entrepreneur is male, in his mid-forties, with technical education, a technical profession and an academic degree, who served in the army as an officer in either combat or technical position and is the first born in a small family of two or three children. The interview material revealed most poignantly the influence of service in the army on the career development of these entrepreneurs. Six cases are provided as a demonstration of this influence.
Methodological Problems in the Development of a Growth Model of Business Enterprise
Authors: Gibb Allan A. , Davies Les
Published: March 2007

The paper evaluates various approaches adopted in the analysis of the growth of small business. Placing these approaches in four different categories, the. authors argue that most of the previous studies are limited in their methodo logical or theoretical perspectives. The paper explores these weaknesses and suggests a growth modei, incorporating the lessons learnt. This model, according to the authors, will be much more relevant for the practical analysis of business as well as for the training of counsellors and advisers.
Promoting Entrepreneurship in Africa: Alternative Strategies and the Scope for Affirmative Action1
Authors: Thomas Wolfgang H.
Published: March 2007

Developing countries have, in the last few decades, pursued a number of strategies to promote indigenous entrepreneurship. According to the author, Africa has followed basically two models—parallelism and partnership—in this respect. Reviewing the progress of efforts so far, the paper argues that experience transfer and skill acquisition should be the essence of a meaningful programme of entrepreneurship development. The author's analysis and pre scriptions are based on his experience in South Africa and relate primarily to Africa, but they might provide useful clues to strategies relevant for other developing countries as well.
Entrepreneurship and Survival Strategies in a Sick Traditional Industry: The Case of the Ahmedabad Textile Industry
Authors: Kantilal Ila
Published: March 2007

The conceptual reach of entrepreneurship is not confined to the start-up stage of an enterprise; it encompasses subsequent developments as well. Seen in this fashion, entrepreneurship comprises a continuum of strategic decisions resulting in the emergence, consolidation and growth of an enterprise. Focusing attention on the Ahmedabad textile industry, which seems to have been gripped by an unending crisis, this paper suggests that an entrepreneurial outlook may offer hope for even a traditional industry, fighting for survival in a hostile environment.
Determining the Relevant Factors in the Success Strategies of Small Enterprises
Authors: Kelmar John H. , Wingham Dianne L.W.
Published: March 2007

The methods used to gauge the performance of large companies may not be relevant to assess the success strategies of small enterprises. Re searchers differ a great deal in this respect. Collating a number of research studies cutting across several countries, the authors of this paper have attempted to develop a framework, centred around three classifications of strategies: firm characteristics, firm competencies, and growth strategies.