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Multiple models of organizational change provide guidance, goals and strategic steps for organizations to complete initiatives effectively. The purpose of this paper was to discuss the impact of transformational leadership as it relates to organizational change in the twenty-first century and propose a consolidated approach to planned organizational change useful for practitioners.

Practitioners and researchers can benefit by a strategy to apply models of change to organizational initiatives. It is proposed that models by Kotter (2012), Bridges (2017) and Lewin (1951) can be consolidated into a comprehensive approach to achieve successful organizational change. Transformational leadership is a critical component which bonds such models together and guides the leader’s role in the process.

Kotter, Bridges and Lewin’s approaches all share similar beliefs about the effectiveness of a transformational leader. First, people and process aspects of change take center stage. Second, urgency needs to unsettle or awaken the need for change. Third, people want to be part of the change process. By involving others, engagement, empowerment and buy-in all increase. Fourth, change will only last if it is embedded into the structures and systems which make up the organization’s culture.

The value of the consolidated approach to change proposed in this paper is that it meets leaders at their level of skill and experience, as it offers options depending on the needs of the organization and extent (depth) of the change required.

Important shifts in policy and practice, the shift to woman‐centred services, the recognition that midwives should be lead clinician in a number of cases, and the idea of effective care, are leading to fundamental change in the maternity services. For many years, midwives have shown interest in the idea of evidence‐based or effective care. There are a number of good reasons for the interest in evidence‐based care. However, unless the political reality of the difficulties of the change are faced, the changes will remain rhetorical, virtual rather than real. Midwifery holds the potential for using evidence in practice, and for improving health outcomes for mothers and babies. If the status quo is not challenged, an important opportunity will have been missed.

At Shepparton in the Murray electorate of Victoria in 2007, the Federal Liberal Member, Sharman Stone, announced that under a returned Coalition Government, Shepparton ‘would get a stand‐alone technical college’. One year earlier, the Victorian Minister for Education, Lynn Kosky claimed that ‘We lost something when technical schools [the ‘techs’] were closed previously. Yes, the facilities were not great but we lost something that was important to young people’. This article explores the development and demise of ‘South Tech’, Shepparton South Technical School, 1966‐86 to identify the ‘something’ that Kosky claimed was lost, and to argue that technical education is essential in a reconstituted system.

The purpose of this exploratory study is to describe the use of social media platforms in a first-year accounting course at a South African university and provide evidence on whether students found these social networking sites useful.

The study uses survey research to determine students’ usage of two social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) and their perceptions of these platforms’ usefulness in a first-year accounting course.

The study found that the time spent on the two social media platforms does not detract from the time spent on preparation for the first-year accounting course. Students’ perceptions on the usefulness of these platforms showed support by all students for using social media to provide career information, but not all students perceived the platforms to be useful for communication and teaching and learning. While no statistically significant differences were found in the students’ responses based on gender, a number of statistically significant differences were found when the results were analysed according to language. Students whose home language was not English found the two social media platforms more useful for some aspects of communication, teaching and learning and for career guidance than English-speaking students.

The questionnaire was only administered to students on one campus who had actually accessed the social media platforms. Therefore, the results are not generalisable beyond this study.

The study shows that students whose home language is not English perceived the platforms more useful for communication, some teaching and learning aspects and for career guidance in a first-year accounting course. This may be helpful to other accounting teachers faced with student disruptions, large classes or high numbers of international students whose first language is not English, and who need to communicate with all their students.

The study adds to the discourse on the usefulness of social media platforms in a tertiary education setting, and more particularly, in a first-year accounting course in South Africa.

The Lesley University PhD program in Educational Studies offers a new specialization in adult learning and development. This hybrid, interdisciplinary degree is geared toward mid-career professionals in higher education, community services, non-formal adult learning, and a number of other fields. Since 2008, the program has graduated 36 students whose dissertations have a strong focus on practitioner research. This case study covers the planning process of an interdisciplinary faculty team responding to the need for educators to teach and research adult learners. The guiding philosophy of adult learning and the delivery method of this competency-based curriculum are explained. Students present a research interest upon application and begin to develop a dissertation question in their first year. They attend a weeklong campus residency every semester where they work on competencies through workshops and lectures. This is followed by online course completion in dialogue with faculty mentors and peers. Students finish 45 credits before beginning the dissertation. The importance of a cohort learning community, advising as pedagogy, online support, library resources, qualifying examination, pilot study, and dissertation preparation are discussed. Data gathered from a current self-study highlight both the strengths and the challenges posed by this unique program.

It is all too easy in the hectic world of business to get too involved with the day‐to‐ day managing of processes and events. When this happens it is difficult to see the wood for the trees and the automatic pilot syndrome takes over. This does not suggest that you do not know what you are doing ‐ on the contrary you are probably as switched on to whatever activity you are managing as anyone could be. What you could be missing, however, is the explanation as to why you are doing it. If this sounds familiar to you, what might be needed is a detached period from your work. By this I mean stay on the high ground for a while so you can get an overview of what you are doing and, more importantly, why you are doing it. How many managers, I wonder, get the opportunity to question what they are doing? If you allow yourself to slip into complacency then you and your organization will soon lose competitive advantage.