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Tropical storms pose a significant threat to population despite the noteworthy improvements in forecasting and emergency management. Following the effects of Hurricane Sandy in the continental North America (USA and Canada) and the Caribbean, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mortality caused by the hurricane, focussing on differences in human vulnerability between these two regions.

The authors developed a database of 233 deaths, consisting of variables that provided a description of the circumstances under which the fatal incidents occurred and demographic details of the victims.

Analysis of the database showed higher percentages of female and young victims in the Caribbean than in continental North America, where mortality increased progressively with age and the ratio of males to females was higher. The majority of deaths occurred outdoors especially during clean-up and in vehicle crashes related to the storm. Physical trauma and drowning were identified as the most common causes of death, followed by carbon monoxide poisoning, hypothermia and others, although substantially different percentages were recorded between the two regions. Overall, indirect deaths presented a higher percentage than direct ones. Among the latter, incidents caused by storm surge and tree falls showed the highest numbers. Power failure and car crashes were the most common cause of indirect incidents.

The paper provides a thorough analysis of the circumstances under which fatal incidents occurred. It identifies parameters that affected the vulnerability of human life to the storm and discusses the differences between the Caribbean and continental North America.

Most observers expect Europe 1992 to enhance the performance of European businesses as they expand from a national to a continental scope. But there is little direct evidence to date of the potential gain in profitability at the business level. Using the PIMS Program database of 89 European continental businesses and 253 European single‐country businesses, this study attempts to provide evidence in this direction. The author finds that, in contrast to North America, European continental businesses were much less profitable than national businesses over the period 1972‐1987. This performance gap indicates the potential gain from the unified European market. This article examines the evidence and suggests some of the possible causes.

The purpose of this study is to examine the research growth in the field of library and information science (LIS) at a global level for the period 2004-2013. The key areas analyzed in the study include research growth in LIS at a continental level, world’s ten leading LIS research countries, citation analysis Hirsch Index (h-index), etc.

The study is supported with empirical findings, for which data were retrieved from the SCImago Journal and Country Ranking, based on SCOPUS data source. The study is not exhaustive in nature, as it covers only those articles published in LIS journals indexed with this particular data source. The study simply reflects a trend and not the exhaustive figures.

A total of 75,887 research articles were retrieved on the date of data retrieval and put to analysis. The USA is emerging as a leading LIS research country with 29,349 articles, constituting 38.54 per cent of the total global LIS research output, followed by the UK and China. Spain is the fastest-growing LIS research country in the world, with an average annual research growth of 28.70 per cent, which is closely followed by Australia and China. The average annual corresponding research growth of LIS publications at the global level remained 10.46 per cent. Out of 194 nation countries, 162 (82.50 per cent) have contributed to the LIS research during the period. North America, Europe and Asia are the three leading LIS research continents.

The scope of the present study is global in nature and lasts for the period 2004-2013.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there is a global divergence or convergence with regard to the ethics of corporate governance.

Regional perspectives on the ethics of corporate governance from four regions, namely, Africa, Asia, Continental Europe and North America are first briefly introduced and characterized in terms of distinctions between the ethics of governance and the governance of ethics, internal and external corporate governance, and shareholder and stakeholder orientations to corporate governance. Thereafter these regional perspectives are compared in order to determine whether there is a global divergence or convergence with regard to the ethics of corporate governance amongst these four regions of the world.

There are four factors that potentially may have an impact on the ethics of corporate governance, namely, patterns of ownership, the prevailing view of the role of the firm in a society, cultural and societal norms, and socio‐political priorities. The influence of these factors makes a global convergence on the ethics of corporate governance neither likely nor desirable.

Not all regions of the world were included in this comparative study. Regions that need to be included in future studies are Latin America, Central Asia and the Middle East.

The main finding, namely, that a global convergence on the ethics of corporate governance is neither likely nor desirable, should be taken into consideration by promoters of global corporate governance standards.

Based on regional perspectives from Africa, Asia, Continental Europe and North America, the paper provides a global perspective on the question of whether there is global divergence or convergence with regard to the ethics of corporate governance amongst these four regions of the world.

Describes the origins and development of the UK retailer, Laura Ashley, emphasizing the internationalization of the company and the emphasis on international comparison from an early stage of the company′s development. Charts the company′s overseas development in North America, Europe and the Pacific Basin with particular reference to the modifications to the trading format of the company that were necessary to gain acceptance in these markets. Considers the factors influencing Laura Ashley′s philosophy in its overseas markets and the recent events establishing Laura Ashley as an international retail brand.

Allied forces commanded by the American five star General Dwight D. Eisenhower won the War in Europe on May 8, 1945, and Western Europe was liberated. Immediately thereafter, in 1947, President Truman signed the Marshall Plan to make funds available for the economic reconstruction of war-ravaged Europe. To the applause of thousands of Europeans, President Kennedy stood at the high podium facing the Berlin Wall and proclaimed, “I am a Berliner.” President Reagan called for the end of the Cold War and the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. During the conflicts in Southeastern Europe in the 1990s, President Clinton led the war under North Atlantic Treat Organization (NATO) command, with full support of European allies, and stopped the massacre of innocent peoples in the region. Since WWII, the core of America's European policy has been one of participation and cooperation.

Examines the involvement of UK logistics, service providers (LSPs) within Continental Europe markets and considers the strategies they have used for European operations together with their favoured expansion routes which have been following piggyback opportunities, acquiring local firms, joint venture arrangements and encouraging organic growth. Considers eight case studies of leading UK‐based LSPs involved in Continental Europe. Their European expansion strategies are examined in terms of their performance, their organisational development structures (multidomestic, Eurolinkers or pan‐European), their organisation of finance, marketing and information technology control as well as the influence of management culture. Finds that expansion in Europe has proved demanding for UK LSPs and that, despite the early optimism, the Single European Market has yet to fulfil its initial promise. Major UK LSPs are obliged to operate across European borders to service multinational customers but this continues to pose challenges.

Existing reviews of research on voluntary childlessness generally take the form of narrative summaries, focusing on main topics investigated over time. In this chapter, the authors extend previous literature reviews to conduct a systematic review and content analysis of socio-historical and geopolitical aspects of knowledge production about voluntary childlessness. The dataset comprised 195 peer-reviewed articles that were coded and analysed to explore, inter alia: the main topic under investigation; country location of authors; sample characteristics; theoretical framework and methodology. The findings are discussed in relation to the socio-historical contexts of knowledge production, drawing on theoretical insights concerned with the politics of location, representation and research practice. The shifts in the topics of research from the 1970s, when substantial research first emerged, uphold the view of voluntary childlessness as non-normative. With some regional variation, knowledge is dominated by quantitative, hard science methodologies and mostly generated about privileged, married women living in the global North. The implications of this for future research concerned with reproductive freedom are outlined.

The continued poor performance of many retailers trading internationally suggests that effectively managing international operations continues to be a source of great difficulty. This paper presents short case studies of the ways in which two leading UK retailers – Dixons and Laura Ashley – have, by very different mechanisms, expanded their businesses outside the UK. For both companies, a review of their motivations for and philosophies on trading internationally is followed by some observations on the management of their international operations. Both companies have recently restructured their management in an effort to move away from a “multi‐domestic” management style and towards a more integrated “transitional” approach.