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SEPTEMBER this year will be unique in the history of the librarian in England in that for the first time in nearly sixty years the annual conference of the Library Association has already become a memory only. There are those who profess to believe that the conference should be restored to the autumn months. It may be suggested on the other hand that the attendance at Margate lent no assistance to that point of view; indeed, the Margate conference was one of the most pleasant, one of the most successful, of which we have record. Nevertheless, if it can be proved that any large body of librarians was unable to be present owing to the change of month, it appears to us that the matter should be considered sympathetically. Although no one holds any longer the view that one week's attendance at a conference will teach more than many months' study in hermit‐like seclusion—the words and sentiments are those of James Duff Brown—because to‐day there is much more intimate communication between librarians than there was when that sentiment was expressed, there is enormous value, and the adjective is not an exaggeration, in one large meeting of librarians in body in the year. It is an event to which every young librarian looks forward as the privilege to be his when he reaches a high enough position in the service; attendance is a privilege that no librarian anywhere would forego. And this, in spite of the fact that there is usually a grumble because the day is so full of meetings that there is very little chance of such recreation as a seaside, or indeed any other, place visited, usually provides for the delegates.

WE have now received the skeleton programme of, and the invitations to, the Annual Meeting of the Library Association which opens at Harrogate with a service at the Parish Church on Sunday, September 17th. The arrangements that are to be made locally are attractive; the picture of the interior of the Royal Hall, which we receive with the list of hotels and boarding houses, seems to promise a useful meeting place where perhaps the acoustics will be better than those to which we are normally accustomed at conferences. The Majestic Hotel, which has been chosen as headquarters, is not quite so expensive as some hotels which have hitherto been chosen although it is not cheap, and it has the advantage of being quite near to the meeting place.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the commitment to a corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice developed by Company of Urbanization of Curitiba S/A – URBS, located in Curitiba (Paraná), Brazil. The paper observes the CSR practice developed by the company.

A descriptive study that used a qualitative approach was held. The research strategy of the research used consisted of a case study. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews, documental analysis and direct observation. These data were further analyzed through the content analysis’ perspective.

The organization in question, even without obligation, develops a CSR project that contributes to the formation and awareness of young citizens, comprising ethical, voluntary, economical and legal responsibilities.

Because of the fact that this is a single case study, the results cannot be generalized, representing only the reality of this case.

The practical implications of this study lies in the attention toward training of students of public schools, especially in aspects of buses and services usage and care for public equity, factors that even contribute to citizenship and the formation of better people and professionals. This will, in the future, contribute to form citizens that are more aware and who will tend to contribute to adequate usage of the transportation system as a whole, resulting in savings for the organization.

The project analyzed in this study contributes to the formation of better citizens regarding the respect and ethical responsibilities they develop toward the public transportation system.

This paper demonstrates the commitment to a CSC practice made by a mixed-economy organization that develops this practice to contribute to the formation of citizens of the city. The value of this paper lies in the fact that it shows how CSR practices can be aligned with other practices of organizations, contributing to all stakeholders involved in it.

This study intends to investigate whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) would positively influence the benefit and the value perceived by the consumer in the company's offer, the judgment of fairness in the price differential charged for it, and his/her buying intention, in a context where the socially responsible firm practises a price higher than the competition. It also investigates whether a social action, supported by the firm, with direct impact on the consumer's life, would provoke a higher effect in his/her reactions than a social action with indirect impact.

The objectives were achieved through experimental methodology, using scenarios. Prior studies contributions to CSR and consumer behavior domains and the theoretical framework supporting the model of perceived value generated the study's proposition, which was translated in a set of hypotheses.

The results obtained indicated that consumers perceived greater benefit and value in the offer of the socially responsible firm, and were showed to be willing to pay 10 percent more for its product, judging this price differential as being fair. Moreover, the social action with direct impact on the consumer's life influenced more positively his/her reactions than the social action with indirect impact.

The research instrument opens up the possibility for people to try to give answers that are in accordance with socially established rules and conventions. Also, a non‐probabilistic convenience sample was adopted. Issues for future studies are: price sensitivity in the context of CSR; the importance of CSR as a factor of influence in buying decision compared with other factors; variables that could exert influence on the impact of CSR on consumers' reactions; the influence of information sources about CSR in the consumer's buying decision.

The results of the study indicate that companies have the opportunity to respond to their consumers' desires of feeling good about a purchase (incentivating CSR), while achieving their business goals and, simultaneously, giving their own contribution to society. Also, when deciding on the social project to invest, firms should try to know which social actions are more valued by their consumers, which are those they judge to benefit them more directly.

The results achieved the integration of CSR in the field of perception of price fairness, as one motive that contributes to a price differential be judged as fair. As a part of the study, a measurement scale was elaborated and tested for the variable perceived benefit.

Drawing on the knowledge-based view (KBV), the study investigates the impact of entrepreneurial leadership (EL) on knowledge management (KM) processes and further examines the mediating role of KM processes on the linkage between EL and project success (PS).

Survey data were collected from 304 project workers in software projects, and the proposed relationships were assessed through SMART-PLS structural equation modeling tool.

The study found a significant impact of EL on KM processes and PS. The analysis also revealed that KM processes significantly impact project success while EL impact PS indirectly through KM processes.

The relevancy of the research stems from the scarcity of research on EL, while studies on the role of leadership as a predictor of KM are significantly limited. Additionally, there is a scarcity of research on the impact of KM on project success. This is one of the earliest studies that investigate the inter-relationship among EL, KM processes and project success.

This study aims to explore how customer-perceived quality is affected by innovation in traditional products in the bread, bakery and pastry industry. The study assesses whether innovating traditional products is an effective strategy, especially in traditional industries.

This study followed a quantitative method of analysis. Data were gathered from a sample of 200 Italian bread consumers and analysed using a two-pronged correlation analysis, and two hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s correlation.

The results showed the negative relationship between customer-perceived quality and innovating traditional products in traditional industries embedded in closed contexts.

The study has several academic implications. First, by focusing on the traditional food industry, the study contributes to the theory by answering the call for research in this field; second, the findings contribute to the embeddedness construct and, third, to the studies of customer-perceived quality and to the literature on innovation.

The findings are particularly interesting for entrepreneurs and consultants in traditional industries who make decisions on whether it is better to innovate or to remain anchored to tradition.

The present study clarifies the shadowy side of innovation in traditional industries, such as the bread, bakery and pastry industry, and it reveals how tradition plays a meaningful role in those sectors.

The purpose of this article is to study how the German historical schools are treated in the histories of economic thought as the background for an exploration of some historiographical issues in the history of economic thought.

The study describes the contributions of the members of the German historical schools from a variety of different viewpoints and attitudes toward the history of economic thought.

One conclusion is that several of the things most of the economists of the German historical schools desired are now part of mainstream economics. These include an enlarged scope of economics, changes in the role of the state in economic life, attention to the relationships of law and economics and recognition of the importance of history. Another conclusion is that several historiographical and methodological problems important for the history of economic thought need further study.

The study helps to explain and understand some historiographical aspects of the history of economic thought. It examines practices, principles, theories, methodology and forms of presentation of scholarly historical research on one subject in the history of economic thought.

This paper aims to examine whether using menu engineering (ME) together with activity-based costing (ABC) for menu analysis provides new insights into true menu profitability. The traditional ME approach only uses food costs to determine the contribution margin (CM) of individual menu items. This combined approach uses both food and traceable operating costs to estimate CMs more accurately.

An improved ME model was developed and tested in an oriental restaurant in Brazil. Direct observation of restaurant activities allowed most costs to be traced (not simply allocated) to individual menu items.

The results revealed small differences in the rankings between the traditional approach and ABC/ME, demonstrating that the integration of ABC with ME made it to possible to identify increased food-costs and lower CMs for all groups of menu items. The results also show that ABC methods are applicable to an oriental-style restaurant.

Just one restaurant and only 80 per cent of the menu were examined in this study. Future research should apply the model used here to other restaurant types located in different geographical areas to validate the approach.

The results suggest that ME can be improved upon by first assessing variable costs using ABC methods.

This paper combines two different analytic techniques (ME and ABC) into a new approach that reveals the true picture of profit and loss for a menu from a restaurant in Brazil.

Organisations may be considered, at the same time, either part of the problem or part of the solution for the social‐environmental crisis that is occurring. To be part of the solution, they must head for a strategic management of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The objective of the present study is to identify and analyse the interfaces between theoretical models of strategic implementation of CSR and the variables and major players involved in this process.

This is a qualitative research using a case study strategy. The company chosen for this case study has been highlighted as one of the best national companies to work for, with significant social responsibility indices.

The case study found some results, such as the importance of aligning with human resource management for strategic implementation of CSR and the integrative characteristic between different workers, that are essential for this process.

Only a few international articles discuss CSR in Brazil. The results could be useful for classes focusing on “Doing business in Brazil”.

In the food chain the identification of household food wastes represents the most problematic aspect to analyze: both as regards the assessment of its qualitative and quantitative aspects and for the detection of measures to reduce or control its generation. In 2012, in fact, the analyzed area showed an inequality index for disposable income of 6.3, and a relative poverty risk index of 42.3. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In order to get deeper insights into consumers’ wasting behaviors, a survey on food waste generation in households was carried out in a province of Sicily (Italy). The questionnaire has been formulated taking into account the socio-demographic characteristics for the person who, in the family, usually makes the expenditure, in particular: gender, age, marital status, number of household members, education level, type (single, with or without children, married with or without children), worker and/or student if responsible for food shopping, the number of monthly meals, the kind of ready meal eaten (frozen, fresh, canned or freeze-dried), net monthly income for the family, etc. (adapted by Bae et al., 2010). The data collected from the statistical return of the consumers were drawn up to transform the same data into information of simpler and more concise interpretation.

The results of the survey are presented in this paper. They can help understand the reasons for discarding edible food and to identify the food groups that are most wasted.

The analysis of a larger land area or community allows most relevant conclusions. The research has an exploratory perspective since the sample strategy is not probabilistic.

The findings could be susceptible to support practical and social implications for the identification of measures and instruments aimed at reducing food waste and at increasing consumers’ awareness on that issue.

The study can stimulate sustainable consumption and consumer behavior especially in light of the current economic crisis.