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To explain recent regulatory guidance for different types of stakeholders, including asset managers, fund complexes, and institutional investors.

Summary of recent regulatory guidance and explanation for different types of stakeholders, including asset managers, fund complexes, and institutional investors.

While the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) letter does not open the door to direct access to Private Market Investments by 401(k) plan participants, it does provide a framework for the expanded use of private equity and, we believe, other types of Private Market Investments in managed asset allocation funds such as target date funds.

Practical guidance from experienced asset management and investment funds and ERISA lawyers.

This paper aims to present the findings of an analysis of the environmentally sustainable policies and practices (ESPPs) used by independent and chain-affiliated hotels. The study aimed to ascertain the engagement of hotels with ESPPs and provide tentative evidence of their commitment towards meeting the expectations of environmentally conscious stakeholders.

This study used secondary data and content analysis to examine the ESPPs of a sample of 220 hotels in Melbourne, Australia. A systematic review was conducted of hotel websites to reveal, in a tabulated way, the range of reporting of environmental material provided by various rated hotels.

This analysis suggests that environmentally friendly business practices are prominently displayed by the hotels sampled; however, independent non-chain affiliated hotels are yet to adopt ESPPs in any visible way.

This study was broadly informed by stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984) and aimed to ascertain the engagement of hotels with ESPPs. While previous studies have focussed on chain hotels, this research involved a greater range of hotels of different profiles to highlight the mix of ESPPs across the hotel sector. Rather than merely examining the corporate websites of hotel companies, the research additionally examined ESPPs at the individual hotel property level, as this is where policies are implemented into practice. The extant literature to date has not studied the extent to which ESPPs are adopted by independent and chain-affiliated hotels at this level, and it is this research gap that the study addresses.

The paper presents the findings of research into the barriers to and drivers of environmentally sustainable policies and practices (ESPPs) in the Australian hotel industry. This study aims to explore these drivers and barriers from the perspective of hotel managers and involve a range of hotels with different hotel industry profiles and management structures.

The study conducted one-on-one interviews with hotel managers to explore the barriers to and drivers of ESPPs. The purpose of the sample and sample size was to ensure representation of different segments of the hotel industry to include international chain affiliated hotels, Australian chain affiliated hotels and independent hotels.

An analysis of the findings suggests that the major barriers to implementing and sustaining environmental sustainability in the Australian hotel industry are time, financial challenges, availability of resources and the views and imperatives of hotel owners and shareholders. The major drivers are financial, marketing, owner and shareholder interests and guest preferences. These stakeholders play a major role in creating both barriers and drivers.

Based on the results, this study can modify the application of stakeholder theory to a degree and argue that stakeholders need to co-operate further to drive sustainability. This study demonstrates that management of environmental sustainability is a challenge for many hotels and there is a particular need for small and independent hotels to embrace environmental sustainability to keep pace with their larger counterparts.

This study is broadly informed by the stakeholder theory. Owners, shareholders and associated stakeholders have a significant influence over environmental sustainability in the Australian hotel industry and they create both drivers and barriers. Responses from hotel managers in this research demonstrate that owners act as a barrier to as well as a driver of environmental sustainability initiatives in the Australian hotel industry.

Measuring the overall success of product development efforts has been frustrating because there is no generally recognized metric to measure effectiveness. The R&D Effectiveness Index is introduced to address this need. It measures effectiveness by comparing the profit from new products to the investment in new product development. Provides the details for calculating the index along with alternative interpretations. Finds a strong relationship between the R&D Effectiveness Index and other performance factors and argues that the R&D Effectiveness Index can be used to compare performance, measure improvement, and evalute business units. Illustrates its application in a case study.

While there is a growing body of literature seeking to explain interorganisational cooperative relationships, little from a communication perspective has emerged. This paper outlines the critical role played by communication in interfirm stategic alliances evident in Australia's telecommunications sector, concentrating on relationships involving the three carriers — Telecom, Optus, and Vodafone — and their firsttier ‘partners’. The study methodology focuses on in‐depth interviews with key industry and government executives. A key finding was the central role played by interpersonal relationships, centred on communication embedded in a climate of trust and commitment. The paper is divided into seven sections: (1) an introduction to the area of interorganisational cooperation; (2) an outline of the Australian telecommunications industry as the focus of the empirical work reported in the paper; (3) a discussion of how to best understand interorganisational cooperation, including an outline of the strategic alliances and partnerships involved in the study; (4) debate on how best to manage such alliances; (5) characterising the central role of communication for such relationships; (6) describing perceptions of such alliances; and (7) a conclusion, including pointers to future research directions and practices in the field.

This paper outlines the first part of a longitudinal study exploring strategic alliances as central mechanisms of inter‐firm cooperation in the Australian telecommunications sector. It reports on the collaboration practices of the three carriers – Telecom, Optus and Vodafone – and their first‐tier “partners”. The Australian telecommunications industry is a useful site for theory testing and development because of its degree of business concentration, the strategic relationships and networks involved and the role of government in encouraging alliances and networks, especially since the move away from a single government‐owned monopoly‐carrier environment. The recent proliferation of interorganisational alliances means we need new approaches to understanding and a move away from simple assumptions about complex organizational structures and processes. Neither is the current superficial rhetoric promoting such arrangements as the answer to industry ills adequate. Conseqently, the present study aims to enhance more complex understanding of how such structural arrangements actually work – how they are formed, organized and managed over time. The study methodology centres on analysis of research and in‐depth interviews with key industry and government executives. Proposed extensions of the present work involve a detailed communications industry survey and network analysis of relationships, with a special focus on relationships growing in the convergence of the telecommunications, entertainment, computing and media industries. When quotations from study participants are used, sources are generally not acknowledged in an endeavour to keep as much anonymity as possible.

Product development management has evolved through major generations, and each successive generation has enabled far greater performance than the previous one. In the 1990s, aggressive competitors used time‐based product strategies to alter the competitive balance in their industries by applying the new product development practices of the time‐to‐market (TTM) generation. As a result, the introduction of new products accelerated by the end of the 1990s, eventually forced all companies to adopt these practices to remain competitive.

To explain that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) brought and settled charges against an investment adviser to several alternative mutual funds alleging, among other charges, failure to comply with the custody requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”).

To explain that the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) brought and settled charges against an investment adviser to several alternative mutual funds alleging, among other charges, failure to comply with the custody requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”).

The enforcement action serves as an important reminder for the growing number of advisers of alternative mutual funds to be mindful of specific restrictions and obligations when managing registered funds that do not apply to private funds and separate accounts. This action shows that the SEC will bring charges even when the alleged violations do not result in harm to investors.

The 1940 Act, the rules thereunder, and SEC staff guidance relating to alternative investment strategies are complicated and not intuitive. These standards can constrain a registered fund’s ability to employ options, futures, swaps, prime brokerage, repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements, enhanced leverage through securities lending, and other facilities. As the SEC continues to examine alternative mutual funds, advisers to these funds should remain cognizant of the obligations arising under the 1940 Act and the implementation of fund policies and procedures.

Practical guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.

Australia’s health industry is grasping the need to use IT and telecommunications with e‐commerce strategies for improved cost‐effective services to its key stakeholders. Addresses the changes occurring in Australia’s healthcare industry influenced by experiments in e‐commerce and focussed on the Project Electronic Commerce and Communication for Healthcare (PeCC). Initiated in 1997, as a joint activity of both government and industry, PeCC was developed to introduce e‐commerce practices into the health sector with almost 700 suppliers, automating pharmaceutical and other supplies to hospitals. Supply chain communication will be facilitated by an Internet‐based platform, allowing more efficient interaction between the pharmaceutical industry’s outlets (retail and hospital pharmacies), wholesalers, suppliers and manufacturers. Promoting and demonstrating e‐commerce for the pharmaceutical industry supply chain, the project connects manufacturers, wholesalers, suppliers and hospitals. Examines lessons in change management and communication that emanate from this health sector case, emphasising the issue of improving communication with key stakeholders about e‐commerce and changes to the health system, and ensuring appropriate communication practices (including media selection) through the different phases of the project over time.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the arguments for the survival of interlibrary lending (ILL) in an open access environment.

Viewpoint – a brief narrative.

That ILL will survive!

Useful in being one of the few (only?) articles to counter the widespread assumption ‘that everything is free on the web’, thus leading to the demise of ILL.