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THIS issue opens the new volume of THE LIBRARY WORLD and it is natural that we should pause to glance at the long road we have travelled. For over forty years our pages have been open to the most progressive and practical facts, theories and methods of librarianship; our contributors have included almost every librarian who has held an important office; and we have always welcomed the work of younger, untried men who seemed to have promise— many of whom have indeed fulfilled it. In the strain and stress of the First World War we maintained interest and forwarded the revisions in library methods which adapted them to the after‐war order. Today we have similar, even severer, problems before us, and we hope to repeat the service we were then able to give. In this we trust that librarians, who have always regarded THE LIBRARY WORLD with affection, will continue to support us and be not tempted because of temporary stringency, to make a victim of a journal which has given so long and so independent a service.

This follow‐on article continues to explore counselling skills for managers and personnel professionals. It challenges the reader to identify the differences in approach when counselling skills are applied to performance appraisal, coaching and mentoring situations. Particular emphasis is placed on the skills necessary to build a strong working relationship with a subordinate, because without these skills lasting changes in performance are unlikely to occur.

Counselling can be seen as “soft” by many managers and personnel professionals, but is actually one of the best ways of improving performance at work. Shows how counselling significantly improved a sales woman’s performance by identifying the underlying problem. Looks at how some of the skills of a professional counsellor can be applied by managers and key professionals in their day‐to‐day business. Uses a useful counselling skills model and identifies potential pitfalls.

The article seeks to shed light on the effects of recent developments in financial services on the organisational structure and strategic planning process in banks and building societies. Evidence is used from a survey of the sector to assess the nature and relative importance of problems experienced by banks and building societies; and evidence is presented on developments in strategic planning techniques and the problems caused by the introduction of new products.

In both the United States and Europe there has been a spectacular growth in the number and importance of management buy‐outs since the late 1970s. The typical characteristics of these deals differ somewhat on either side of the Atlantic in ways which are outlined below. However, in each environment the term “buy‐out” refers essentially to the transfer of ownership of the assets of an existing firm — which may itself be an independent entity or a wholly‐owned subsidiary or division — to a new and especially established group of equity holders which intends to keep at least some of those assets in their former use. In the US buy‐outs have often involved very large asset transfers, indeed multi‐billion dollar deals have been quite frequent. The transaction is typically financed by a limited subscription of equity from specialist venture capitalists and perhaps from the firm's management, together with a very large input of debt capital. The latter has often been in the form of high coupon (so called “junk”) bonds. The characteristically high ratio of debt to equity in buy‐out finance has given rise to their American description as leveraged buy‐outs.

Takes a practical look at bringing creativity back into problem solving. Even teams with exceptional individuals can flounder without new ideas. New research shows that a common “type” of individual found frequently in organizations may be stifling ideas. Links made between the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator and Belbin Team Roles to focus on potential difficulties. Choose between three options to help overcome the pitfalls and bring back future profits through...current creativity!

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between economic growth, foreign direct investment (FDI) and corruption.

Data for 42 developing countries and 28 developed countries is analyzed using panel dynamic ordinary least squares.

FDI has a significant influence on economic growth in both the short run and the long run for developing and developed countries. In the cases of the developing economies, lower levels of corruption enhance the impact that FDI has on economic growth.

The study links corruption to the impact of FDI on economic growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted work, leading to the adoption of remote work practices and changes in power dynamics and trust. Although managing remote work has received much attention, the impact of the quality of work life on the effectiveness of hybrid workplaces has been less studied. This study aims to examine the relationship between quality of work life and psychological capital among organizational leaders using an artificial neural network (ANN) model.

This study used a cross-sectional quantitative methodology. A structured questionnaire was used to collect 268 responses from organizational leaders using the convenience sampling method. The data collected were analyzed using the ANN model in the Python interface.

The ANN model training and testing revealed that there is a positive relationship between the quality of work life and psychological capital among organizational leaders. The R-squared values for hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism were 85.19%, 82.08%, 78.55% and 81.08%, respectively, in the training set, and 81.30%, 78.95%, 76.52% and 71.41% in the testing set.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous research in the context of studying the relationship between quality of work life and psychological capital among organizational leaders using the machine learning approach – ANN model.

Industrial incident investigations determine what caused an adverse workplace event so that preventative measures can be instituted and reduce the risk of such incidents happening again. Investigators gather evidence from multiple sources in an investigation and one such source is the people in, or around, the industrial incident. The purpose of the current study is to examine if recall strategy could affect eyewitnesses' recollections of a workplace incident.

The current study is a 3 (Post‐Event Context: Think, Filler, Discuss)×2 (Incident Investigation Form: Psychologically‐Based vs. Standard Investigation Form) between‐subjects factorial design. Participant‐witnesses watched a simulated videotaped workplace incident (n=196) then either: thought about the event, discussed it with fellow witnesses, or engaged in an unrelated task. Subsequently, participants recalled the details of the adverse event on an incident report form: a Standard Investigation Form or a form based on principles of cognition (Psychologically‐Based Form).

Compared to the Standard Investigation Form condition, eyewitnesses in the Psychologically‐Based Form condition recalled significantly more pieces of accurate information at a reduced accuracy rate. Post‐event context produced no significant differences in participant‐witnesses' reporting.

The data suggest that incorporating some principles of memory and cognition into incident investigations have the potential to enhance accurate recollection of a workplace event.

This study is among the first to apply psychological theory to enhance eyewitness reports of an industrial incident. In so doing this research contributes to recent literature that explores eyewitness recall for industrial events.

Operational debriefing and psychological debriefing both involve groups of participants (typically from the emergency services) discussing a critical incident. Research on post‐incident debriefing has previously raised concerns over the likelihood that this discussion may affect not only psychological responses, but also memory integrity. It is possible that discussion in this setting could increase susceptibility to the misinformation effect. This paper seeks to address these issues.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether including a warning to the debriefing instructions about the possibility of memory contamination could reduce the misinformation effect. Participants viewed a stressful film, and were assigned to one of three conditions: debriefing with standard instructions, debriefing with a memory warning, or an individual recall control condition. Free recall memory and distress for the film were assessed.

Results indicate that participants in both debriefing conditions reported significantly more misinformation than those who did not participate in a discussion. Additionally it was found that the warning of memory contamination did not diminish the misinformation effect.

These findings are discussed with suggestions for the future of debriefing, with a particular focus on the emergency services.