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The aim of this study is to investigate whether female leaders are more efficient in family firms than in non-family firms.

This paper uses a unique database of ownership and leadership in private Swedish firms that makes it possible to analyze differences in firm performance due to female leadership in family and non-family firms. The analysis is based on survey data merged with micro-level data on Swedish firms. Only firms with five or more employees are included in the analysis. The sample contains more than 1,000 firms.

The descriptive statistics show that there are many more male than female corporate leaders. However, the regression analysis indicates that female leadership has a much more positive impact on the performance of family firms than on that for non-family firms, where the effect is ambiguous.

Comparative studies examining the impact of female leadership on firm-level performance in family and non-family firms are rare, and those that exist are most often either qualitative or focused on large, listed firms. By investigating the role of female directors in family and non-family firms, the study adds to the literature on management, corporate governance and family firms.

The “off-price” retailing concept is defined as the presentation of limited inventories of products in a “disorganised” retail environment which provides an extra level of “challenge” to the shopping experience. Research has identified “off-price” shoppers as those who approach this challenging experience in a purposeful, task-driven way. This current research contributes new knowledge by testing the impact of antecedents (i.e. involvement) on the “off-price” shopper experience and the moderating role of national culture across two distinct cultural groups.

Data were collected via a self-completed, anonymous, online survey provided to a sample of Australian (n = 355) and Chinese (n = 400) shoppers who were identified as regularly shopping for fashion in “off-price” retail stores.

The research found that the consumer's level of involvement positively impacted their “off-price” shopping experience in terms of effort/mastery and pride. However, in contrast to current knowledge of East-Asian and Western cultural variances, limited moderation effects were identified. All national cultural dimensions interacted with product involvement in influencing consumer pride. Whilst product involvement decreased with pride in higher individualism, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation and indulgence cultures, these reversed in cultures with a lower score in these four dimensions.

This new research extends knowledge of “off-price” shopper behaviour by testing the levels of involvement and experience across two distinctly different cultures – East Asian and Western – and challenges existing knowledge of cultural variances. Further, the work extends the use of achievement goal theory as an approach to delineate these consumers from other cohorts.

One of the fastest growing segments of the American adult population is adults over 65‐years old. This group is refereed to as “silver seniors.” Understanding the silver citizen market requires an in‐depth knowledge of seniors' attitudes and lifestyles. The purpose of this paper is to present an in‐depth view of the senior woman's self‐concept, lifestyle, and apparel‐related preferences and shopping behaviors.

Using findings from an extensive review of literature and in‐depth interviews with 20 women over age 65, this exploratory research provides insight into the impact of self‐concept, lifestyles, and fashion behaviors on apparel purchase decisions. The qualitative approach used for data collection and analysis provides rich insight into the behaviors and apparel needs of “silver seniors.” The tripartite self‐concept is explored as it relates to fashion attitudes and behaviors.

Findings from this paper indicate that women over 65 are still interested in fashion and that looking fashionable for themselves and others is important. Insights into the specific unmet apparel and retail needs of senior adult women are explored. Findings indicate that senior adult women continue to remain physically and socially active and have need for a variety of garments. Recommendations for apparel manufacturers and retailers targeting this lucrative segment are presented.

This paper is original to the retailing and consumer behavior literature. One of the benefits of this exploratory study is that it provided the authors with an opportunity to examine, in theory and practice, an overlooked yet growing segment of apparel consumers.

Notable Social Studies Trade Book (NSSTB) lists include books selected annually by the Book Review Committee of the National Council for the Social Studies in conjunction with the Children’s Book Council. These lists are excellent resources for teachers who use children’s literature to support social studies instruction in their classrooms. We report our analysis of award-winning titles for primary grades published from 2001-2011. Biographies and books that address topics about families are featured as a starting place for primary grades teachers to begin incorporating NSSTB into their social studies instruction. We conclude by suggesting ways for primary grade teachers to utilize the book lists each year.

This index accompanies the index that appeared in Reference Services Review 16:4 (1988). As noted in the introduction to that index, the articles in RSR that deal with specific reference titles can be grouped into two categories: those that review specific titles (to a maximum of three) and those that review titles pertinent to a specific subject or discipline. The index in RSR 16:4 covered the first category; it indexed, by title, all titles that had been reviewed in the “Reference Serials” and the “Landmarks of Reference” columns, as well as selected titles from the “Indexes and Indexers,” “Government Publications,” and “Special Feature” columns of the journal.

The increasing size of the elderly population is emerging as a primary catalyst for the escalation of healthcare expenditure, and a sense of urgency is manifest. However, the complexity of the health- and elderly care systems provides challenges in improving system efficiency. Hence, the system-level understanding of the main obstacles to integration care needs further exploration. In order to better integrate health- and elderly care, the study needs to identify the actual misalignments underpinning the issue. This study provides the theoretical foundations for resource misalignments and provides empirical examples of these.

Semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders on various hierarchical levels were carried out to create a more complete view of the system and resources deployed in health- and elderly care. The application of user-centered design methods and co-creation with employees have also been crucial to the outcomes of the study.

Results show that health- and elderly care is a large-scale complex system. The overlapping and mutually reinforcing misalignments are: (1) regulation and policy differences, (2) stakeholder quantity and variation, (3) external control of health- and elderly care, (3) decreasing collaboration and (4) communication channels and IT development.

This qualitative study builds on institutional theory and resource integration theory and contributes with empirical descriptions of misalignments in the health- and elderly care system. These descriptions will serve as points of departure for systems design to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of health- and elderly care.