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This study aimed to use both quantitative and qualitative methods for assessing Saudi Arabian students’ experiences in using the library of a small American university and to compare the findings against those of a representative sample of American classmates.

The project used a paper survey in querying 164 Saudi Arabian and 273 American students studying at Robert Morris University in 2017.

The study found that Saudi subjects were much more likely to believe that their informational needs were misunderstood by librarians than American participants in the survey.

Poor participation in the qualitative phase limited, to some degree, the interpretation that could be carried out of the study’s quantitative results.

The study’s findings strongly reveal the need for libraries and librarians to highly prioritize effective communication when providing service to international students.

This is only the second study to ever focus on the library experiences of Saudi Arabian students in American academic libraries, and it is the first to concentrate on the subjective aspect of understanding between librarians and international students. It is of value to library administrators, as well as librarians and library staff who interact with international students.

This study aims to investigate the experiences, both academic and interpersonal, of a cohort of Saudi Arabian students in using the library of a medium-sized American university. It also examined how these experiences were similar to, or different from, those of other international students observed in earlier research studies conducted in American academic libraries.

This study used an online and paper survey that queried 169 Saudi Arabian students who were studying at Robert Morris University in 2015.

This study determined that many survey subjects struggled with language issues, the unfamiliar structure of American libraries and interpersonal communication with library staff. It also found that the respondents believed that formal instruction in the use of the library was helpful to them.

The broad nature of the survey precluded comparison with a control group of students. The findings regarding the subjects’ interactions with library staff were, in some cases, ambiguous. An additional study will be necessary to clarify those experiences.

This study’s findings strongly support the value of formal library instruction programs for international students and the need for libraries to highly prioritize the importance of interpersonal communication in their services.

This is the first study to focus on the library experiences of Saudi Arabian students in an American academic library. It is of value to librarians and administrators, as well as to individuals who design and provide academic support services for international students.

This paper aims to provide an examination of the scholarly literature regarding both the pedagogical and practical aspects of PowerPoint.

The researchers used a post‐test experimental design to determine the effectiveness of a Pecha Kucha presentation when compared to a traditional, untimed PowerPoint‐enhanced lecture.

The results of this literature review and subsequent experimental study suggest that Pecha Kucha can be an effective instructional technique that should be considered for inclusion in the university classroom.

Provides an examination of the pedagogical and practical aspects of PowerPoint.

This study was intended to identify and assess the extent and impact of the emigration of professional librarians on every university library in Anglophone Africa as well as the attitudes of library administrators toward national and international programs that have been or might be designed to make use of the skills of librarians in the African diaspora.

The research was conducted by use of an online survey that was sent to 121 African academic libraries.

The study conclusively demonstrated that African academic libraries have been impacted – both positively and negatively – by the effects of the “brain drain”. It also revealed that the administrators of these libraries are highly receptive to the possibility of working with African emigrant librarians in various forms (i.e. permanent, temporary, virtual) of structured “return programs”.

The survey's relatively low response rate precluded precise determination as to the degree to which the brain drain has penetrated African academic libraries. Additional study will be necessary to clarify the range of its impact and any differences between regions that might exist.

The study's findings strongly suggest that academic libraries in English‐speaking Africa offer a promising environment for return programs designed to ameliorate the effects of the brain drain.

This paper is an original study that fills a gap in the literature of African library administration. It is of value to practicing librarians and researchers as well as individuals involved with international development projects.

The author proposes the broad use of a Librarianship Portfolio in performance evaluation of librarian work performance and promotion decisions, and a rubric is formulated to guide managers in its use.

The librarianship portfolio and rubric offer a flexible and significant alternative to many performance evaluation techniques. Tailored to a broader array of institutional types and employment situations these tools can provide both management and employees with collaborative and substantive information about professional performance and appraisal.

The librarianship portfolio itself and the proposed rubric offer the library world a structured, summative and collaborative process for performance evaluation of work performance. They offer employees a means of ‘looking their best’ to the management, and the management a calibrated and clear method of feedback.

The librarianship portfolio discussed as well as the rubric proposed are original formulations and tools, based on well-established and effective evaluative techniques.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the convenience of the Viable System Model (VSM) as a framework to guide organisational adaptive response and resilience in times of instability and change.

A thought experiment based on the case study of an eco-village where a project based on action research was conducted following the introduction of the VSM.

This paper provides evidence of the efficacy of the VSM and its recursive structure to facilitate resilience and organisational adaptation and provides evidence of its advantages over conventional management tools to deal with uncertainty in complex environments.

Based on a case study, the scope of this paper is limited and context specific. The comparison of tools is also limited to the ones related to the allocation of resources aiming to provide resilience, viability and adaptive response to critical events, used by the observed community.

The case study invites to revisit and discuss the fitness of conventionally used management tools to cope with complexity – from an organisational perspective.

This paper invites to a reflection on the nature of dominant management tools used in contemporary management to cope with complexity. This paper provides insights on the value of organisational cybernetics and its capability to guide organisations in times of instability and change while facilitating resilience and adaptation through the management of variety.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which team processes vary between team types, as well as the relative importance of these processes for different team types.

A survey study evaluated a sample of 316 members of various work teams that were classified as either intellectual (e.g. executive team) or physical (e.g. production team) teams. Independent samples t‐tests, paired samples t‐tests, and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate hypotheses.

Confirmatory analysis indicated transition and action oriented process behaviors were distinct from one another. Intellectual teams were found to value transition processes (planning and strategizing) more highly than physical teams. Intellectual teams also valued transition processes (planning and strategizing), more than action processes (monitoring and coordinating).

Research on team processes tends to focus upon a “one size fits all” approach to teamwork, but this approach has yielded inconsistent frameworks. This study provides evidence that these inconsistencies are due to the changing nature of teamwork. This study was limited in that only two broad types of teams and two types of process competencies were assessed.

Differences in the importance of certain processes for specific team types should be taken into account when implementing systems for team selection, performance appraisal, and training.

This paper provides empirical support for previous theoretical suppositions that different team types differ in the level of importance they place on certain processes.

This paper aims to evaluate the evolution, development and endurance of the Equality Act 2010, providing a critical overview of influence and key legal principles, demonstrating how the Act has impacted strategic organisational and human resources policy and practice in the UK.

The research is based on a systematic review of relevant professional and academic literature, alongside an evaluation of the Act itself. The subject focus is seen as timely with the return of a Labour Government in the UK – the architects of the Equality Act – for the first time in 14 years. Due to word limitations, the treatment is condensed to provide a selective overview that will be of interest to practitioners and academics in strategic organisational management and human resources. The author is a socio-legal studies academic and non-practising barrister, with expertise in the corporate organisational field.

The Equality Act 2010, though now established, owes its historical inception to civil rights activism and a radical turn in legislative drafting and ambition – points frequently missed when discussing its scope and influence. A highly unusual anomaly is that having been created by an outgoing Labour Government its stewardship immediately passed to a Conservative administration. In particular, the principles consolidated and introduced by the Act have greatly impacted the workplace, crucially organisational behaviour and human resources practices, leading to greater responsibility and interpretive power being directed from employment lawyers towards organisational policy and professional practice.

The Equality Act 2010 is usually discussed as an artifact rather than a radical creation and developing entity. This short paper approaches the Act as a “living” object with an eye on future reform.

The topic of whistleblowing is achieving prominence as a question of social policy. Some influential voices are suggesting that far from whistleblowing — informing on organisations —, being socially undesirable, it may in certain circumstances be an activity deserving high praise. Inevitably it entails huge risks to the activist, and these risks need to be personally and carefully considered. John Banham, Director General of the Confederation of British Industry, wrote in support of the Social Audit report on the subject (Winfield 1990), and a committee established by the Speaker of the House of Commons has suggested the possibility of honouring whistleblowers in the British Honours system for their good corporate citizenship. There have also been landmark reports in America, Australia and Canada (Leahy 1978, Electoral and Administrative Review Commission 1990, Ontario Law Reform Commission 1986).