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Working in relationships of mutuality is a necessary precondition for success in any collaborative and systematic effort to improve peoples' lives. Keystone Accountability has been working for a decade to develop simple, low cost and actionable measures of performance based on the experience and perceptions of key constituents – and ways of using these data in generative dialogue to deepen insights, strengthen relationships, foster ownership and agency and improve the outcomes of development interventions. They call this method and its accompanying toolbox Constituent Voice.

This chapter briefly explores Keystone's journey of discovery and what they have learnt about using feedback loops (metrics plus dialogue) to better understand and strengthen relationships, performance and emergent impacts in development assistance.

The purpose of this case study is to chronicle a remarkable business turnaround in the banking sector of Oman.

A narrative of the rapid transformation of a laggard bank into Oman's second largest bank is presented and analyzed.

The momentum for change was initiated and sustained through the leadership’s willingness to take big risks and use massive challenges as opportunities to kindle team spirit and solidify a new, winning attitude among the staff.

The bank focused on offering frictionless, low-risk, incremental value at scale. That’s the digital era performance requirement. For example, it introduced a highly successful no-frills credit card marketed as a fast-to-approve and easy-to-use alternative.

The case provides a rare glimpse into management practices in middle eastern banking sector.

The author argues that messages about educational administrators found in contemporary films both shape and limit popular discourse about schools and their mission. Of particular importance is the dissonance between the celluloid images created by Hollywood and the complex and challenging realities found in our own communities. Based on a textual analysis of 28 recent productions, she argues that practitioners would do well to attend popular culture representations and to consider the ways in which mass media shape policy debates about public institutions and appropriate administrative behavior.

In an educational era focused on expectations related to program accreditation, academic integrity is paramount to program success and credibility. Because Internet-based learning is not limited to geographical or political lines drawn on a map, there is a certain amount of ambiguity regarding the application of regulations and laws governing online learning and how they are enforced. Managing the financial and accreditation needs of institutions with authentic and appropriate methods of teaching, learning, and assessment is a precarious balance – one in which the potential for misbehaving online can quickly tip the scales to the side of questioning the credibility of online learning and misusing power in terms of data privacy. Wendy Kraglund-Gauthier and David Young explore the issue of how online students misbehave when being tested at a distance, what technological challenges emerge when verifying the identity of online students, and issues of privacy. They also include a comparison of methods used to confirm the identity of online students. In light of the inherent challenges that emerge alongside the demand for more technology-based screening tools and devices, Kraglund-Gauthier and Young question whether solutions lie in competence-based assessment for learning, rather than a reliance on surveillance. They argue that in spite of stakeholders' best efforts and best intentions, legislation directed at ensuring online privacy is fraught with potential challenges.

Upholding assessment ethics are common concerns during annual public examination performance appraisal. Previous studies have focused more on examination stakeholder: testees outside proctors however, assessment ethics cannot be studied excluding proctors variables therefore, the study investigated consistency of a structural equation modelling of security, environment, professionalism, testing and assessment ethics.

Ex-post facto design was adopted. Simple random sampling technique was employed to choose 90 proctors drawn from 45 colleges. Proctors Examination Ethics Questionnaire (reliability = 0.86) was used to collect data for the study. Data collected were analysed using path analysis at 0.05 significant levels.

Out of the six hypothesised paths significantly explaining the consistency of the causal model. Test security, environment and professionalism accounted for both direct and indirect effects on assessment ethics. All model fit indices were established to explain testing and assessment model.

Few proctor variables were studied, therefore assessment ethics may not be explained other than through proctor variables considered in this study.

Assessment ethics may not be violated if test security, testing environment and professionalism are not cared for during test administration as shown in the study.

It added to knowledge base in ethical areas of assessment, a 21st-century proctors in upholding testing and assessment ethics, security, environment and professionalism are to be considered.

There was a positive causal effect of security, environment and professionalism on testing and assessment ethics among proctors in public examinations.

Carris Reels, a reel-manufacturing company headquartered in Vermont, had long-standing goals of being employee owned and governed. They also had a strong organizational (ownership) culture. The Corporate Steering Committee (CSC), a committee composed of representatives from management and non-management employees, and the board of directors had a decision to make about adding two new members to the board. With these new members, the board of directors would be made up of both members of management and non-management employees. Was Carris forfeiting wiser outside counsel in favor of company insiders? What about for the future of the company?

The data for this case were collected from discussions and informal interviews with Carris Reels employees, and archival data from the company intranet which includes an archival of company newsletters, meeting minutes and announcements. Information on the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), board of directors, the CSC, and ESOP trustees from these sources were also used.

This case is suitable for strategic management, and social responsibility and social enterprise-focused courses for upper-level undergraduates and MBA students.

The sources, development, and outcomes of a strong organizational culture are important to this case. Schein (1989) and others (Harris and Ogbanna, 1999) address the role of a company’s founder in development of the company’s culture. Research addressing ownership and participation in the context of an ownership culture indicates positive outcomes to employees and to their companies (Logue and Yates, 2005; Ownership Associates, 1998).

Informs executives of the dangers of entrapment which can occur when there is an increasing commitment to an ineffective course of action to justify previous allocation of resources when managing new projects.

Reviews research studies on establishing call/contact‐centres in local government across the UK. Data were also collected via interviews with executives in authorities experienced in setting up call/contact centres.

Centres involve spending millions of pounds but there was only limited knowledge of capital or ongoing revenue costs. Evidence of internal resistance, lack of any shared vision, or knowledge of the level of risk existed as well as only limited understanding of the centres' organisational impact, potential benefits or added value. There was an absence of stated project objectives or formal project appraisal and a creeping commitment to the projects continuation. The potential for entrapment existed

A single case study but one which adds to the existing literature on entrapment and focuses attention on the risks that can exist in the public sector.

Underlines the importance of setting out specific procedures for evaluating the potential costs/benefits and subsequent progress of new, particular large scale, business projects.

Shows that potential entrapment can be present in the context of projects of national importance. The paper is relevant to managers within the public sector engaged on new ventures and to all executives in any setting.

January 27, 2005, was an extraordinary day for Gillette's James Kilts, the show-stopping turnaround expert known as the “Razor Boss of Boston.” Kilts, along with Proctor & Gamble chairman Alan Lafley, had just orchestrated a $57 billion acquisition of Gillette by P&G. The creation of the world's largest consumer products company would end Kilts's four-year tenure as CEO of Gillette and bring to a close Gillette's 104-year history as an independent corporate titan in the Boston area. The deal also capped a series of courtships between Gillette and other companies that had waxed and waned at various points throughout Kilts's stewardship of Gillette. But almost immediately after the transaction was announced, P&G and Gillette drew criticism from the media and the state of Massachusetts concerning the terms of the sale. Would this merger actually benefit shareholders, or was it principally a wealth creation vehicle for Kilts?

To understand the factors that persuaded shareholders of both P&G and Gillette to merge their companies, the valuation metrics involved in determining the merger consideration, compensation packages for key managers, and the politics (internal, local government, and regulatory) that impact major mergers.