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The purpose of this paper is to report on a study of student information‐seeking and information‐sharing behaviours and communication during group projects. While a considerable body of literature exists on student information behaviour, less is known about the information behaviours of students working collaboratively, for example, in group projects. The aim of the study was to explore student information behaviours arising from group projects undertaken as part of their studies. The research questions were: What are the information seeking behaviours of students involved in group projects? How do students communicate with group members during group projects? How do students share information with group members during group projects? and What do students like most and dislike most about group projects?

A total of 50 undergraduate and graduate students in the University College Dublin School of Information and Library Studies responded to an online questionnaire (the response rate was 55.6 per cent) in May 2007.

Findings reveal that students are embracing electronic media and resources, such as web sites, electronic journals and e‐mail, to progress their group projects. However, despite the widespread availability and convenience of these resources, communication difficulties and other problems were reported. Nevertheless, in general, the findings show that students have positive perceptions of group projects and believe that they have developed useful skills, such as teamwork skills and sharing information resources, as a result.

This study should be of interest to both academics and librarians, and to researchers and scholars concerned with human information behaviour, particularly in an educational context.

In many healthcare systems, health policy has committed to delivering an integrated model of care to address the increasing burden of disease. The interface between primary and secondary care has been identified as a problem area. This paper aims to undertake a scoping review to gain a deeper understanding of the markers of integration across the primary–secondary interface.

A search was conducted of PubMed, SCOPUS, Cochrane Library and the grey literature for papers published in English using the framework described by Arksey and O'Malley. The search process was guided by the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses” (PRISMA).

The initial database search identified 112 articles, which were screened by title and abstract. A total of 26 articles were selected for full-text review, after which nine articles were excluded as they were not relevant to the research question or the full text was not available. In total, 17 studies were included in the review. A range of study designs were identified including a systematic review (n = 3), mixed methods study (n = 5), qualitative (n = 6) and quantitative (n = 3). The included studies documented integration across the primary–secondary interface; integration measurement and factors affecting care coordination.

Many studies examine individual aspects of integration. However, this study is unique as it provides a comprehensive overview of the many perspectives and methodological approaches involved with evaluating integration within the primary–secondary care interface and primary care itself. Further research is required to establish valid reliable tools for measurement and implementation.

Many depictions of women in the west, through images and old stories, focus on women as either mothers or as young girls in an idealized state. Whenever behaviour deemed correct to their sex has been disrupted, images and tales about women shift the focus onto blame, using women as scapegoats for their persecuted lives, or showing women's essentialist biological ‘weaknesses’ as the cause of wrongdoing. Surrounded by a blame culture with its negative effects, have women demonstrated a female agency as they project blame back onto a force beyond themselves? Struggling with disappointment and fears, a common belief in ‘bad-luck’ would allow women to voice a varied imaginary of superstitions, omens and presences in the past. While such imagery derives from less legitimate forms of knowledge (i.e. vernacular), remaining chiefly in folklore and fairy, such projections which move between the interior and exterior world as liminal presences expand the domestic sphere, long considered the norm for women. The function of such blaming by women, rather than be read as complaints without a resulting action, instead can be viewed as a positive action which allowed women relief and release, a chance to express and reveal the frustrations of a group with limited power over their own lives. This chapter examines how images and tales reveal and maintain blame culture towards women and suggests a view of blame and blaming transformed into survival tools for women in the past.

The purpose of this paper is to perform a brief examination of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the progress towards IFRS convergence in the accounting environments of China and the USA, providing useful information on the current status and future of IFRS convergence in these countries.

A range of IFRS-related literature from 1993 to 2013 was analyzed to provide the current status of IFRS and to determine the past, present and future of IFRS convergence in the country examinations.

IFRS convergence and adoption has occurred on a global scale due to the call for a single set of standards. China's most significant obstacles include training accounting professionals and becoming more involved in the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) standard setting process. The USA's most significant obstacle is completing the Securities and Exchange Commission roadmap milestones, which will progressively move the accounting industry towards IFRS convergence.

These findings have been limited to an overview of IFRS convergence and adoption within China and the USA. Additional research opportunities exist by examining how successful countries have been in protecting individual economic interests by working with the IASB in the standard setting process for the IFRS, as opposed to being passive in the process. One economic indicator that should be examined is foreign direct investment, which has major impacts on country development and can be influenced by financial standards such as IFRS.

China and the USA both have milestones identified in this paper that will need to be reached before benefits may be reaped from the converging to IFRS.

These findings show that IFRS standards are being implemented globally in many nations, providing a common set of reporting tools to businesses and investors. Through these standards, China and the USA are working to be even more competitive forces in financial markets.

This study examines the performance between operational variables for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) within the context of interorganizational relationships. Specifically, it investigates the role of information quality and continuous quality improvement and the varying importance that SMEs place on each of these constructs. The sample consists of 134 vendors of a large university in the southwestern region of the United States.The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between information quality and continuous quality improvement with performance in SMEs. Implications for both research and practice, as well as ideas for future research, are discussed.

The current study uses an advanced machine learning method and aims to investigate whether auditors perceive financial statements that are principles-based as less risky. More specifically, this study aims to explore the association between principles-based accounting standards and audit pricing and between principles-based accounting standards and the likelihood of receiving a going concern opinion.

The study uses an advanced machine-learning method to understand the role of principles-based accounting standards in predicting audit fees and going concern opinion. The study also uses multiple regression models defining audit fees and the probability of receiving going concern opinion. The analyses are complemented by additional tests such as economic significance, firm fixed effects, propensity score matching, entropy balancing, change analysis, yearly regression results and controlling for managerial risk-taking incentives and governance variables.

The paper provides empirical evidence that auditors charge less audit fees to clients whose financial statements are more principles-based. The finding suggests that auditors perceive financial statements that are principles-based less risky. The study also provides evidence that the probability of receiving a going-concern opinion reduces as firms rely more on principles-based standards. The finding further suggests that auditors discount the financial numbers supplied by the managers using rules-based standards. The study also reveals that the degree of reliance by a US firm on principles-based accounting standards has a negative impact on accounting conservatism, the risk of financial statement misstatement, accruals and the difficulty in predicting future earnings. This suggests potential mechanisms through which principles-based accounting standards influence auditors’ risk assessments.

The authors recognize the limitation of this study regarding the sample period. Prior studies compare rules vs principles-based standards by focusing on the differences between US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and international financial reporting standards (IFRS) or pre- and post-IFRS adoption, which raises questions about differences in cross-country settings and institutional environment and other confounding factors such as transition costs. This study addresses these issues by comparing rules vs principles-based standards within the US GAAP setting. However, this limits the sample period to the year 2006 because the measure of the relative extent to which a US firm is reliant upon principles-based standards is available until 2006.

The study has major public policy suggestions as it responds to the call by Jay Clayton and Mary Jo White, the former Chairs of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to pursue high-quality, globally accepted accounting standards to ensure that investors continue to receive clear and reliable financial information globally. The study also recognizes the notable public policy implications, particularly in light of the current Chair of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) Andreas Barckow’s recent public statement, which emphasizes the importance of principles-based standards and their ability to address sustainability concerns, including emerging risks such as climate change.

The study has major public policy suggestions because it demonstrates the value of principles-based standards. The study responds to the call by Jay Clayton and Mary Jo White, the former Chairs of the US SEC, to pursue high-quality, globally accepted accounting standards to ensure that investors continue to receive clear and reliable financial information as business transactions and investor needs continue to evolve globally. The study also recognizes the notable public policy implications, particularly in light of the current Chair of the IASB Andreas Barckow’s recent public statement, which emphasizes the importance of principles-based standards and their ability to address sustainability concerns, including emerging risks like climate change. The study fills the gap in the literature that auditors perceive principles-based financial statements as less risky and further expands the literature by providing empirical evidence that the likelihood of receiving a going concern opinion is increasing in the degree of rules-based standards.

What drives small to medium‐sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) internationalisation strategy remains a significant issue in international business research, despite the huge research efforts on this subject over the past three decades. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and compare the motives behind the equity modes of foreign market entry in Norway.

Employing a cross sectional survey, a sample of 146 firms consisting of 42 international equity joint ventures (IJVs), 53 cross‐border mergers & acquisitions (CBM&As) and 51 wholly owned subsidiaries (FWOS) from Norway was collected and analysed.

It was found that whereas market development and power influence the choice of IJVs and CBM&As, the need to access resources and control resources appear to be the most important motives behind FWOS as an entry mode choice. Moreover, the regression results indicate that market development and power, technology development, location advantage and synergistic gains appear to have a significant bearing on different entry mode choice in Norway.

The paper examines the motivation for the choice of foreign entry mode from the point of view of senior managers in Norway. Future research should accommodate multiple perspectives simultaneously from the parent companies and subsidiaries in a single paper to significantly advance the field.

The paper discovers that the motives behind the choice of cooperative modes of entry tend to be more linked with market development, technological development while FWOS are motivated by the need to control proprietary resources. The implication for the Norwegian government is that its financial incentives do not affect the mode choice of entry.

The paper finds that different motives and theories influence the choice of foreign market entry by SMEs in Norway and provides insights for senior managers on the factors taken into account in making choice decisions in Norway.

Through a survey of 200 employees working in five of the thirty establishments analysed in previous research about the microeconomic effects of reducing the working time (Cahier 25), the consequences on employees of such a reduction can be assessed; and relevant attitudes and aspirations better known.