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Every seaport with foreign‐going shiping trade has always had its “foreign” quarters; every large city hat had its Oriental traders and services, eg., Chinese laundries, Indian restaurants, Italian restaurants, greengrocers, ice cream and biscuit manufacturers; all of which has meant that foreign foods were not unknown to food inspectors and the general public in its discerning quest for exotic food dishes. It was then largely a matter of stores specially stocking these foods for their few users. Now it is no longer the coming and going of the foreign seaman, the isolated laundry, restaurant, but large tightly knit communities of what have come to be known as the “ethnic minorities”, from the large scale immigration of coloured peoples from the old Empire countries, who have brought their families, industry and above all their food and eating habits with them. Feeding the ethnic minorities has become a large and expanding area within the food industry. There are cities in which large areas have been virtually taken over by the immigrant.

Evidence of audit committee activity in the formative years of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad indicates that control and reporting activity developed long before the existence of regulatory mandate or the external auditing function. This is the earliest example of such an organized and continuing activity in American business history. With no previous business experience to model this enterprise, the organizers of the corporation put in place an audit committee of directors as a control device to safeguard assets and ensure proper handling of cash receipts and disbursements. Research into primary materials establishes that the committee not only performed regular routine audits of the “treasurer’s report,” but also identified and addressed critical problems of control and payment weaknesses. The discovery of the function of value‐for‐money (VFM) auditing by a committee of directors establishes historical context for today’s audit process and audit committee. Because the B&O was such an important entity, it influenced other railroads; and the railroad industry, in turn, greatly influenced the development of modern American businesses during the Industrial Revolution.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the history of the standardisation of two largely overlapping electronic document formats between 2005 and 2008, and its implications for future IT standards development.

The document format controversy is researched as an exemplary case study of the institutional rivalries, perspectives and strategic interests at play in standardisation processes. The study adopts a methodological lens of discursive institutionalism in order to explain how actors assume and perform a variety of roles during the controversy. It consults a range of documentary sources, including media commentary, corporate press releases and blog posts, financial reports and technical specifications.

The study shows that: first, intentions to increase competition in the office software market through the standardisation of document formats led to a standards “arms race”; second, this further entrenched the position of a single market actor; and third, the resulting public debate nevertheless has reinvigorated the push for genuinely open standards.

Information technology standards are often touted as mechanisms for increasing the competitiveness of a market, thereby benefitting consumers and the greater public. In the presence of dominant institutional actors, efforts to standardise can, perversely, undermine this benefit. Increased public scrutiny through online media offers a potential remedy.

This research presents a novel account of the controversy over the document format standardisation process, understood through the lens of discursive institutionalism. It also shows the increasing and potentially putative role of online media in the development of IT standards generally.

The objective of this paper is to explain the conceptual framework of paradox.

The paper adopts a theoretical approach. It outlines marketing's current and limited interest in the notion of paradox and highlights the difference between a classic paradox, the tension between transactional and relational marketing, and the Contemporary Marketing Practice (CMP) research program.

A future research agenda for paradox and marketing is speculated on, addressing issues such as likely domains for exploration, methodology, as well as the type of organizational structures and marketing leadership required. Finally, there is reflection on how paradox engineers a strong bridge between theory and practice.

The paper reveals useful information on paradox and marketing.

Profound and lasting changes are afoot in the high‐tech industry. Only those high‐tech companies that align their business models for the new horizontal and hypercompetitive future will succeed. The seven deadly signs of the new competitive environment are: (1) growing downward pressure on price with an ever‐increasing demand for greater performance; (2) greater complexity for customers as they face the unbundling of hardware options, integration choices, and multi‐company business coordination; (3) a new distribution of value: greater value to innovative component makers and solution integrators; less value for product design and assembly; (4) branding and customer relationships will differentiate commodity products; (5) collaborative networks will emerge; (6) global supply and global customers will mean global organizations; (7) competitors will encroach horizontally. Recommendation: proceed with a five‐step approach to develop a new winning strategy: (1) pick a horizontal space; (2) redefine and Web‐enable your value propositions; (3) assemble your collaborative networks; (4) integrate your internal operations globally; and (5) realign your organization and technology. Studies demonstrate that during downturns, advantage shifts to companies that continue to invest strategically.

This study examines corporate equity initial public offerings (IPOs) underwritten by Section 20 subsidiaries of commercial banks relative to those underwritten by non‐Section 20 underwriters (investment houses). Consistent with a ‘net certification effect’ for banks, corporate equity IPOs underwritten by Section 20 subsidiaries have lower underpricing than those underwritten by investment houses. Secondly, commercial banks brought a relatively larger proportion of small equity IPO issues to market, during the period of this study. Contrary to the contention that universal banking restricts the availability of financing to small firms, bank underwriting appears to benefit small firms. Further, Section 20s do not increase underwriting fees to offset the effect on potential profits from lower underpricing. This study also finds that the focus of Section 20 on small IPOs results in higher quality for the IPOs they underwrite, as indicated by a lower standard deviation of underpricing.

The purpose of this paper is to explore social media’s impact on organizational knowledge quality through the theoretical lens of social capital and resource exchange.

This is a theory-confirming, quantitative study using panel data collected through a Web-based survey.

The results show that while social media affects structural capital and cognitive capital directly, it only affects relational capital indirectly through structural and cognitive capital. Moreover, overall social media and the enhanced social capital do help promote organizational efforts in knowledge management, which subsequently leads to a higher level of organizational knowledge quality.

All survey respondents were from the USA, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. The authors also call for more research in establishing the time sequence in the proposed causal relations and in the individual-level mechanism through which social media promotes organizational knowledge quality.

This study highlights both the potential and limitations of social media in promoting organizational knowledge management. Businesses must consciously manage the assimilation and use of social media to benefit from them.

The authors position the study at the intersection of social media, social capital and knowledge management and explicate how social media work through social capital and organizational knowledge management efforts to affect knowledge quality.

Under this heading are published monthly news of recent professional appointments, industrial developments and business changes, etc.

Many entrepreneurs want to reach high to the heavens to achieve unlimited success. These hardworking, often underappreciated, venturers often crave fame and fortune as they strive to create their personal business legacy. One strategic path many have wandered down is that of the Initial Public Offering (IPO), whereby shares of the company are sold to the public. The IPO has many strong attractions. Large amounts of capital can be brought into the company.The company's stock can be used as currency to acquire other companies. Early investors realize a good ROI. Employees can perceive real value in their stock options. Customers, banks, vendors, and other stakeholders pay more respect to the company. Is this truly the entrepreneurʼs nirvana? Or is it a case of “Be careful of what you wish for because it may really come true?” Read on.

The situating of pimatisiwin as a framework for spatial justice and self-determination aids educators in strengthening their understandings of Indigenous knowledges to support an authentic inclusion of Indigenous students with disabilities. Through the sharing of Canada’s colonial history, and by critically examining the principles of care within special education, the author exposes its relationship with ableism, normalcy, eugenics, and white privilege to show how Indigenous peoples continue to be marginalized in the twenty-first century. This justice work asks educators to shift their perspectives of inclusion and wellness through the insertion of an Indigenous lens, one to help them see and hear the faces and voices of disabled Aboriginal children and their kinships. The chapter discusses the social model of disability, the psychology of Gentle Teaching, Indigenous ethics, and principles of natural laws through the voices of Nehiyawak and other knowledge keepers, in order to suggest an agenda for educators to come to an understanding of an emancipatory and gentle education. Spatial justice and Indigenous epistemologies merge as synergistic, inclusive, and holistic entities, to support Aboriginal children and youth as both they and those who teach learn to celebrate disabled ontologies. The chapter concludes by presenting how Gentle Teaching and Indigenous ways of knowing should be honored in this quest of creating an equitable, caring, and inclusive society for all disabled Indigenous children and youth.