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The purpose of this paper is to determine if firms that invest in information technology (IT) and innovate are more profitable than those that do not and to analyze how firms in general and on the island of Puerto Rico, in particular, have found an avenue to compete, grow, and become profitable using technology in production and service, and by extending into the use of electronic commerce. Some recent investigations find that investments in IT do not lead to productivity improvements as measured by accounting standards. Earlier research identified four factors that can lead to such a paradoxical finding.

The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate, utilizing a case method approach, the extent to which small and medium firms in different industries are prone to this paradoxical condition. Six firms identified in Puerto Rico were contacted to obtain both qualitative and quantitative information from senior officers and CEOs through personal and telephone interviews.

Utilizing the four factor influence on productivity output of IT investment in each of the present case, the findings show that their effect and subsequent limitations on the broadly defined output measure is minimal. Thus the findings show improved productivity and growth in each of the cases.

A major limitation of the present study is the lack of (proper) quantitative data both at the input stage of IT investment and the output stage of quantitative measures.

The paper is of value in illustrating how small and medium enterprises can successfully adopt and incorporate IT while assuming the necessary investment costs, reaping the benefits of productivity, profitability, and growth within a reasonable span of time.

In 1970, the median earnings of American women employed on a full‐time basis were approximately 60 percent of men's earnings. This figure, taken from the Current Population Reports of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is circulated widely by individuals concerned with pay inequities in the labor market. Unfortunately, it is sometimes used without qualification, tending to cloud the problem of equal pay for equal work. Some writers fail to mention that the Commerce Department's figure relates to all workers in diverse occupations.

SEPTEMBER finds the summer irrevocably over, although there will still be one or two very beautiful months in the English autumn remaining. It is usually the time when the older librarian thinks of conferences, and today he realizes regretfully that these have receded into what already seems a remote past. This month as we write we have to repeat the expectation we have expressed every month since May that before these words appear in print the threatened lightning attack on the life of England will have been made by the Nazis. It is becoming so customary, however, that one can only suggest that so far as circumstances allow we proceed with our normal work. The circumstances may make this difficult but they should be faced. One thing stands out: that in public libraries, at anyrate, the demands made by readers have gradually returned to their usual level and in some places have risen above it. This does not always mean that the figures are as high as they were, because in many of the great cities and towns a part of the population, including a very large number of the children, have been evacuated. In spite of the pressure on the population as a whole, it would seem that head for head more books are being read now than at any previous time.

This study aims to assess consumers’ beliefs in three Middle Eastern Arab countries regarding attitudinal and behavioural responses towards permission-based direct email marketing (hereafter DEM) and the moderating role of gender in the hypothesised path model.

Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesised path model by using data collected from 829 respondents.

The findings show that attitude was found to fully mediate the relationship between beliefs and behavioural responses towards permission-based DEM. Gender moderates the relationship between beliefs and attitudes and responses to permission-based DEM. Notably, female respondents were found to react more actively when exposed to permission-based DEM.

Further qualitative research is needed to learn more about how and why individuals develop behavioural intentions in certain ways towards opt-in DEM. In addition, neuropsychology approaches such as eye-tracking are endorsed for future research to gain more insights and conquer biases associated with self-reporting procedures in countries where such technologies are deemed as legal and ethical to be used with human subjects.

Advertisers promoting products and services in the Middle Eastern Arab context should take further steps to enhance the quality of information (including cultural sensitiveness) and the perceived entertainment value that could be delivered to consumers through permission-based DEM, especially for female internet users. Additionally, this study highly recommends the double opt-in approach to permission-based DEM.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to address the gender role as a moderator of the path depicting the effectiveness of permission-based DEM approach in the Middle East (Arab counties) from beliefs to behavioural responses via attitudes.

Neoliberal urban regimes focus on redeveloping downtowns to compete for economic development. Chattanooga has been lauded by urban development organizations such as Brookings and the Urban Institute for its public-private partnership model dubbed the Chattanooga Way. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In this paper, the authors use social network analysis to analyze elites highly involved in local economic development, education policy and social entrepreneurship in Chattanooga, TN.

The results suggest a strong group of nonelected local elites dominate policymaking in policy arenas traditionally reserved for elected elites. The overlap between elites who shape local policy and elites who fiscally benefit from local policies raises troubling questions for local democracy, public accountability and transparency.

This analysis is valuable to public policy scholars who are interested in analyzing neoliberal coalitions and their impact on local development initiatives.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between virtual meeting participation and wellbeing. Based on the conservation of resources theory, we hypothesize that participation in more virtual meetings is associated with both negative and positive wellbeing indicators.

An online survey was sent to 3,530 employees across five Belgian universities in April 2020. Useful data from 814 respondents was collected and analyzed to test the hypothesized relationships.

The authors find support for their hypotheses, namely that participating in more virtual meetings is associated not only with negative wellbeing indicators (workload, stress and fatigue) but also with a positive wellbeing indicator, namely work influence.

Given the unique work-from-home context during the pandemic, the generalizability of our findings may be limited. Nevertheless, this study contributes to the literature on Meeting Science and Virtual Work, as it is the first study to empirically relate virtual meetings to wellbeing indicators, including a positive one.

As virtual meetings and work-from-home are expected to remain prevalent, understanding wellbeing implications is of high managerial importance. Their findings can be useful for (HR) managers who develop flexible work policies for a post-pandemic world.

The findings draw attention to the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between productivity and wellbeing in creating a sustainable work(-from-home) context.

The COVID-19 lockdown provided a unique opportunity to obtain insight on the relationship between virtual meetings and wellbeing at an unprecedented scale.