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In 1840 the ancient city of Brechin was the kind of community which was ceasing to be important. It was a market town of some 6000 people set in the fertile countryside of Angus in North East Scotland. During the Age of Improvement market towns had become wealthy by selling hitherto novel and expensive goods and services to the surrounding countrypeople who purchased them with the profits of capitalistic agriculture. Now the initiative was slipping away to cities like nearby Dundee and the emergent industrial centres of the central belt of Scotland. Nevertheless the town had a flax mill, a bleachfield, several linen works and two distilleries. There was also work for nine ministers, nine lawyers and nine doctors. The ministers and lawyers were particularly important: the former propounded rival arguments about church government, the latter formalised and interpreted the resulting conflicts. Their part in this cameo of library history calls for some explanation.

The increasing complexity of higher education has led to the need for a different type of leader that transcends traditional boundaries and individual self-interest. The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative form of leadership consistent with the unique challenges faced by institutions of higher education today.

First, existing research on leadership is explored. Particular attention is placed on identifying the applicability of the primary leadership approaches to the unique organizational environment typically found in institutions of higher education. Transcollegial leadership is then developed as an alternative form of leadership better suited to colleges and universities in today’s dynamic environment.

After examining the inadequacies of existing forms of leadership in higher education, transcollegial leadership is introduced as the process involved in leaders systematically, but informally, relating to persons and groups of equivalent authority in different areas of an institution of higher education for its betterment and the advancement of its mission, not for person gain.

It appears that transcollegial leadership may be specifically suited for institutions of higher education given their unique organizational structure. Transcollegial leadership permits colleges and universities to better utilize the skills and expertise of their members. The skills and expertise of transcollegial leaders not only benefit their home organizational units, but can benefit the entire organization.

The paper examines a different approach to leadership to aid colleges and universities in facing the challenges of a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive environment.

Contrasting the Madisonian model of democracy with Westminster style arrangements, this chapter examines how American political scientists and policymakers expressed second thoughts about the constitutional settlement of 1787 and looked towards the British political system for possible reforms to their own. In particular, it details the arguments offered by Thomas Finletter, James MacGregor Burns, and others, from the 1940s through to the early 1960s that the United States might adopt certain features of the Westminster model. The chapter analyzes their proposals and the – essentially negative – reception that they received. It concludes by addressing the failure of these proposals and the endurance of fragmented government within the United States.

Concentrates on ways of helping employers to keep their workforce up to date and adaptable. Contains precised articles exploring the relationship between employers and the world of education. The final group of precis examines the concept of knowledge management, which can help organizations to exploit their hidden talents.

Cross‐cultural variations in the international ethical environment has the potential to hamper the international activities of the unwary international retailer. This study investigated differences in preferences for policies addressing potentially ethically troublesome retail sales situations among future business personnel from two differing cultures. The results suggest the existence of cultural differences in such preferences. Implications are discussed.

Arguably, businesses are facing their most challenging moment in time as we enter the twenty‐first century. Companies that have relied on industrial‐age advantages such as access to distribution channels, mass production, economies of scale, capital investments, switching costs, and even government policy, have all but been rendered obsolete in today’s blisteringly fast‐paced business environment ‐ an environment that is now based on information and knowledge. Today’s business environment is anything but stable and predictable. In fact, it moves in real time. Technological advancements, deregulation, and globalization are generating upheavals in both organizations and products and services. Markets are fragmenting. Barriers to entry are crumbling ‐ even in capital‐intensive industries. New businesses are starting up in venues that did not even exist a few years ago. The Internet and its World Wide Web alone have created ‐ almost overnight ‐ a borderless global economy. Customers can be of any creed, religion, color or race. Matching products, services and employees to customers will become a key and critical ingredient for business and financial survival in the twenty‐first century. The challenge will be to find, acquire and retain the right customers ‐ who could come from anywhere in the world ‐ in order to fuel long‐term business success. This will require keen attention, and a holistic focus, on customers themselves. This will require customer relationship management.

This chapter argues that equipping teachers for the essential task of serving as social justice advocates in their classroom and school communities must become the central task of English teacher preparation programs. This argument is positioned against the backdrop of a U.S. sociopolitical climate that has seen increased injustice and violence against youth, teachers, and schools in spite of official policies promising otherwise. The authors describe current efforts to achieve a social justice focus in two spaces that are particularly influential for practicing and aspiring English teachers: pre-service teacher preparation coursework and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), our primary professional organization. The chapter examines the trajectory of research and practice that has arisen in response to the 2012 NCTE standard on social justice in English teacher preparation and offers suggestions to the next generation of educational researchers about increasing the visibility and efficacy of this important work.