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Managers of marketing relationships are advised to get “close” to the customer. Some theoretical models of industrial buyer‐seller relationships incorporate notions such as “closeness” and “intimacy”. What does it mean to have a close relationship? Is closeness essential to success in partnering? What is the payoff? This study attempts to address these questions. A concept of “closeness” is defined and tested empirically. A closeness construct is developed and tested for discriminant and convergent validity. The construct is then incorporated into a structural model of successful industrial buyer‐seller relationships and tested for pragmatic validity. The overall model and hypotheses are tested for statistical significance using LISREL VII. The results of the study indicate that the concept of closeness is indeed an important element in the partnering process. The managerial and research implications of these findings are discussed.

The concept of switching costs or transaction‐specific investments has been widely used in theoretical models of industrial buyer‐seller relationships. Yet there are few empirical studies that have examined the dimensionality of switching costs. The purpose of this study is to investigate empirically the dimensions of switching costs. Different typologies, or dimensions, of switching costs are identified from a review of the literature. Measures of these dimensions are developed and empirically tested for construct and pragmatic validity using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Two switching cost dimensions are identified and validated: hard assets and soft assets.

The historian, Arthur M. Schlesinger (1999), once wrote that “a basic theme of American history has been the movement, uneven but steady, from exclusion to inclusion” – a movement “fueled by ideals” (p. 173). He might well have been talking about the United States’ public education system where it has become evident that segments of its pupil population have been overlooked or neglected. The good news is that there have been some efforts to ameliorate this problem. However, despite these efforts, there continues to be lingering problems for culturally and linguistically diverse students with gifts and talents. In this chapter, we address how to maximize the success potential of these students.

Business ecosystem is described as a web of loose relationships, thereby posing some challenges to coordination. In attempt to ensure coordination in business relationships, scholars have proposed relational and contractual governance mechanisms. Hence, this study aims to examine the effects of governance mechanisms on coordination in the pharmaceutical business ecosystem (BE), with the potential mediating effects of closeness and opportunistic behavior.

The study adopted quantitative approach with cross-sectional survey research design to collect data from the business ecosystem of pharmaceutical company X in Ghana. A structured questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale was employed to collect data. Analysis was based on 173 institutions (both local and international) selected from pharmaceutical BE. Various validity and reliability checks were conducted before the presentation of the actual analysis, which was conducted using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression in Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS).

The results of the study revealed that both relational and contractual governance have a direct positive effect on coordination between pharmaceutical BE members and the focal firm. The effect of contractual governance on coordination is however, partially mediated by opportunistic behavior. Finally, closeness also fully mediated the effect of relational governance on coordination.

The study builds on the governance mechanisms in exchange relationship, which was hitherto largely limited to the dyadic and triadic business network, partnerships and strategic alliances studies. The contribution to BE literature provides further understanding into transaction cost economics and relational exchange theory, which was dominantly applied in dyadic relationships ties such as partnerships, alliances and networks.

The daily loaf or cake of bread is undoubtedly Man's first and oldest form of prepared food. Except in the the cereal used to make it, it differs little the world all over, but changes are taking place in this staple food, in its preparation and distribution. In recent legal proceedings, a charge of selling a loaf not of the nature, etc., in that it contained rodent contamination, was brought against partners in what was described as the last surviving family baker's business in a relatively large and populous suburban area of London. “Take‐over bids” are the order of the day and in modern business, which includes the baking of bread, the accent is on combination and concentration. The Magistrates must have had a wistful regard for the things that are passing for they fined the “little man” about half the amount they subsequently fined a larger undertaking for a similar type of offence.

The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a literature review of the first twenty‐five years of TLA poses some challenges and requires some decisions. The primary organizing principle could be a strict chronology of the published research, the research questions addressed, the automated information retrieval (IR) systems that generated the data, the results gained, or even the researchers themselves. The group of active transaction log analyzers remains fairly small in number, and researchers who use transaction logs tend to use this method more than once, so tracing the development and refinement of individuals' uses of the methodology could provide insight into the progress of the method as a whole. For example, if we examine how researchers like W. David Penniman, John Tolle, Christine Borgman, Ray Larson, and Micheline Hancock‐Beaulieu have modified their own understandings and applications of the method over time, we may get an accurate sense of the development of all applications.

This case study was prepared through secondary research. The secondary data was collected in electronic format from the internet. Archived data from the company sources as well as other resources available online was used. Financial reporting about Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer) was done using data from the company’s annual reports.

This case discusses US-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s successful rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine under the leadership of its Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla (Bourla). In March 2020, when the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic, leaders of pharmaceutical giants worldwide were in no way prepared to find a cure for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. On the other hand, Bourla stood up like a true leader and sought to do something to address the problem. Bourla’s huge gamble paid off. In December 2020, the Food and Drug Administration approved the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer. Pfizer was ready with 50 million vaccine doses for global distribution.

This case is intended for use in MBA/MS level programs as part of the curriculum on Effective Leadership and Decision-making, and Crisis Management.

The institution of an annual series devoted to current and ongoing research in economics and business should be considered one of the notable developments during the period under review. Long standing need for such a reference not withstanding, there has been until this year no systematic attempt to organize a continuing series which concentrated on selected areas of ongoing research, especially adapted to the Jahrbucher format. By facilitating the publication of research papers which are longer than the conventional journal‐length article yet shorter than a monograph, publishing outlets available to scholars in the field have been infinitely expanded. Two years ago, the Royal Economic Society and the Social Science Research Council of Great Britain, developed an experimental series, published by Macmillan, entitled Surveys of Applied Economics. The JAI Press, Greenwich, Conn., has now come out with an annual series, which is expected to fill the gaps in at least seventeen areas of economic theory and business. These are briefly listed below, with pertinent bibliographical citations: Research in Economic Anthropology: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, George Dalton. vol. 1. Sept. 1977‐ $22.00 ISBN 0‐89232‐040‐9; Research in Economic History: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Paul Uselding. vol. 1. Sept. 1976‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐001‐X; Research in Health Economics: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Richard M. Scheffler. vol. 1. Sept. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐042‐7; Research in Human Capital and Development: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Ismail Sirageldin. vol. 1. June/July 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐019‐2; Research in International Business and Finance: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Robert G. Hawkins. vol. 1. May/June 1977‐ $23.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐031‐1; Research in Labor Economics: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Ronald G. Ehrenberg. vol. 1. March 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐017‐6; Research in Law and Economics: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Richard O. Zerbe. vol. 1. Sept. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐028‐1; Research in Marketing: An Annual Compilation in Research. Series editor, Jagdish N. Sheth. vol. 1. June 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐041‐9; Research in Philosophy and Technology: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Paul T. Durbin. vol. 1. March 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐022‐2; Research in Political Economy: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Paul Zarembka. vol. 1. Sept. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐020‐6; Research in Population Economics: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Julian L. Simon. vol. 1. April 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐018‐4; Applications of Management Science. Series editor, Matthew J. Sobel. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50. ISBN 0‐89232‐023‐0; Research in Econometrics. Series editor, Dennis J. Aigner. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐039‐7; Research in Experimental Economics. Series editor, Vernon L. Smith. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐030‐3; Research in Finance. Series editor, Haim Levy. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐043‐5; Research in Organizational Behavior. Series editor, Barry Staw. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐045‐1; Research in Public Policy and Management. Series editor, Colin Blaydon. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐044‐3.