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Multi‐source processes have been increasingly adopted by organisations in recent years and most projections suggest this trend will continue. As a developmental technique, one underlying rationale to such systems is their potential impact on target managers’ self‐awareness; increasing self awareness is thought to enhance performance. The main theme of this paper relates to the potential of 360‐degree assessment for yielding measures of self‐awareness and the different ways of deriving indices of this variable. The relationship between self‐awareness indices and measures of performance are discussed in light of research findings. It is concluded that different self‐awareness measures used in the research literature are not equivalent, and may have differential relationships to performance. It is argued that self‐awareness should be assessed in selection and other settings using a variety of methods, not necessarily utilizing the kinds of measures typically associated with multi‐source feedback systems.

The construction industry in Australia is characterised by a long work‐hours culture, with conditions that make it difficult for staff to balance their work and non‐work lives. The objective of this paper is to measure the success of a work‐place intervention designed to improve work‐life balance (WLB) in an alliance project in the construction industry, and the role the project manager plays in this success.

The paper focuses on an alliance case study. Interviews were conducted at two points in time, several months apart, after the interventions were implemented.

Results showed that staff on the whole were more satisfied with their work experience after the interventions, and indicated the important role that managers' attitudes and behaviours played.

Managerial support for work‐life initiatives is a critical element in achieving WLB and satisfaction with working arrangements. The fact that the manager “talked the talk and walked the walk” was a major contributing success factor, which has not previously been demonstrated.

This article introduces the special issue “Beyond psychometrics: assessment for the new millennium” and further speculates on how a number of organisational trends may influence selection practice in the future. These trends include the continuing emphasis on delayering, of selecting “core” strategic staff, of organisational fit, the impact of technology, the devolution and outsourcing of selection, the rise of teleworking, the questioning of Western assumptions alongside globalisation, and diversity. Developments in selection responses to these factors are identified, such as the popularity of assessment centres, psychometric tests, personality instruments and genetic testing. Some suggestions are made for possible future developments including whole team (or board) selection, the greater use of depth interviews, clinical tests of neurological functioning, and of virtual simulations, and the notion of the possession by individuals of a portable and verifiable assessment portfolio.

In the increasing discussion about electronic assistive technology, the most emotive reactions are provoked when it is suggested that technology is used to monitor older people with dementia. The words associated with monitoring are rather negative ‐ surveillance, ‘big brother’, intrusive, controlling.For the past two years care practitioners in local authorities and NHS mental health trusts have been using the Just Checking activity monitoring system to assess people with dementia, living alone in their own homes. Small, wireless movement sensors placed in the key rooms of the house, are triggered as the person goes about their daily life, and the data are represented as a line on a 24‐hour chart. There are no cameras. The chart is accessed via a password controlled website.The charts give care professionals and family carers a much clearer ‘picture’ of how a person with dementia is acting in their own home. The information is used to devise a care package that is appropriate, and will support them to continue to live independently.Case study names have been changed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the political, toy manufacturing, and educational activities of Caroline Louise Pratt (1867‐1954), founder of the Play School (later renamed City and Country School), New York City.

The paper reviews previously unreported biographical material and draws on a number of Caroline Pratt's own writings, combining results of archival text research and digital searches.

Newly available data sources on Caroline Pratt's 1896‐1921 life show her to be more of a social reconstructionist than previously concluded. This research demonstrates that it was Pratt's feminist, socialist and trade unionist ideals, transformed into educational aims, that formed the core of her educational work.

This investigation is limited to Pratt's activities during the years 1896 to 1921.

The internet has provided ready access to a wealth of newspaper and journal documents. The ease of access has no precedent, and the volume of newly available data sources has brought opportunities for reinterpretation and rewriting of the history of education. Yet even more new data will inevitably become accessible. This paper provides insights into how previously unresearched documents, now easily found through digital research, can enhance understanding of the contributions of Caroline Pratt.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

The purpose of this study is to explore how effective new venture teams are developed in venture creation programmes.

This paper presents a multiple case study focusing on the development of effective new venture teams. Semi-structured interviews with 15 new venture teams from two different venture creation programmes were conducted and an abductive analysis approach was used.

Three key phases of the development of an effective new venture team are identified: (1) establishing a foundation for collaboration, (2) structuring the teamwork and (3) adapting to changes. Key activities undertaken by effective new venture teams in each phase are explicated. The findings suggest that new venture teams that are able to establish a foundation for team collaboration and teamwork structuring have the capacity to persevere through the challenges inherent in emerging ventures.

This study offers a much-needed practical perspective about how effective new venture teams are developed in venture creation programmes, and how venture creation programme educators can facilitate the development of effective new venture teams. For educators, these findings provide important insights about team-based learning in entrepreneurship education.

As a way to enable employees to work distantly, teleworking has gained a growing interest in companies. At the same time, management challenges regarding the teleworkers’ risk of isolation, coupled with the need to maintain cohesion for the dispersed team, to give an example, are various. How can management practices help to maintain adequate levels of perceived proximity for a dispersed team’s members? The purpose of this paper is to answer this question. Referring to a particular person’s perception of how close or how far another person is, the concept of perceived proximity is mobilized. This Telecom case study is based on 22 interviews with human resources directors, managers and teleworkers. While the results of this study appear to corroborate empirically the theoretical model as proposed by O’Leary et al. (2014), they also propose nuances, highlighting the importance of the interpersonal relationship to expand the perceived proximity and stressing the need for both distant and face-to-face exchanges. They also help to understand which management practices can influence perceived proximity. In particular, they help to understand the role of communication and collective identity and support the importance of the e-leader. Finally, the results highlight two remote management modes that will be discussed elaborately.

The authors conducted a single in-depth case study of Telecom as a unique case study; it is useful to analyze new and complex phenomena for which theoretical development is emerging and the consideration of the context is essential (Yin, 2013). In total, 22 interviews were conducted with the human resources directors, managers and teleworkers. Lasting between 40 and 130 min each, the interviews were all fully transcribed and analyzed using an iterative thematic content analysis. The authors first manually analyzed the data on the basis of the social regulation theory to interpret the local and the combined regulation (that is say to how the managers and the teleworkers co-build the rules to work being distant) the telework implied between managers, teleworkers and their co-workers (Authors, 2018). Two emerging codes led the authors to reinterpret the data, compared to the initial interpretative framework. The authors thus transformed the coding and recoded the 22 interviews (Bacharach et al., 2000, p. 713; cited by Gibbert et al. 2010, p. 58) around the objective/subjective working time and information and communication technology (ICT) use and the perceived proximity: shared identity and perceived proximity, and communication and perceived proximity.

First, the level of ICT use and the accompanying objective and subjective perceptions with regard to working time are reported and positive perceptions for the employees are determined because of the timing flexibility the ICT determines. Second, the ICT use is presented in relation to the managerial and collegial proximity perceived. Third, the authors discuss the shared identity processes that influence the proximity perceived, followed by the characteristics of the communication process, being the fourth one. As such, the results lead to a valuable input that enables to critically reflect on the e-leader roles, resulting in two emerging management modes seen as a continuum in terms of shared identity: the “e-communicational” mode signals the re-foundation of management in situations of distance based on the personality of the e-leader that influences the team members in terms of communicational and organizational behaviors; and the control management mode that is based upon objectives in a situation of being distant, illustrated by managers who regulate the work made by the distant team in monitoring the objectives without sharing the experience of telework.

The results corroborate empirically with the theoretical model by Boyer O’Leary et al. (2014), while putting into perspective the complexity to manage the inter-subjectivity that is related to distance. More specifically, the results show that even if the ICT use leads to a new balance regarding time management for teleworkers – increasing their quality of life perceptions, with a better organizational flexibility – that is to say, a “win-win” configuration, the ultimate success of such a configuration depends on sound management practices. In this sense, the authors propose to enrich their model (Figure 3, p. 33). More extensive research will test two new moderating variables. At first, the results put in evidence the core role of e-management (e-communicational vs control), with a potential moderator effect on the relationship between objective distance and shared identification, on the one hand, and communication, on the other hand. Another result is the potential moderator effect of the ICT use on the relationship between perceived proximity and relationship quality. The nuances proposed support some recent studies arguing that distant communication (versus face-to-face) may inhibit geographically distributed team performance without consideration of the way the teams use ICT to ensure their cohesion and performance (Malhotra and Majchrzak, 2014).

These conclusions result into important management recommendations to support dispersed teams with how to cope with challenges such as the risk of delayed communication, possible misinterpretations, limited information richness and great conflicts (Zuofa and Ochieng, 2017).

Compared to the unique empirical application of the Boyer O’Leary et al.’s framework (2014), who found no differences existing in terms of proximity perceived with the study of 341 “geographically present” dyads with 341 “geographically distant,” this study’s results show that the construction of the feeling of proximity depends on a fragile balance between virtual and face-to-face exchanges. The authors also highlight the role of an e-leader in this regard and identify and compare two modes of remote management.