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For decades, the Department of Defense (DoD) has employed numerous reporting and monitoring tools for characterizing the acquisition cost estimates of its programs. These tools have led to dozens of studies thoroughly documenting the magnitude and extent of DoD acquisition cost growth. However, little attention has been paid to the behavior of the other main cost component of a system's life cycle cost: Operating and Support (O&S) costs. Consequently, the DoD has little knowledge regarding the accuracy of O&S cost estimates or how that accuracy changes over time. In a previous paper, the authors described an analytical methodology for remedying this deficiency via a study to characterize the historical accuracy of O&S cost estimates. The results are presented here, and indicate there tend to be large errors in DoD O&S cost estimates, and that the accuracy of the estimates improves little over time

The purpose of this paper is to introduce this dedicated research issue of the Records Management Journal

This paper provides a brief viewpoint on records management research.

This issue should clearly demonstrate why research is so critical.

This paper provides a brief viewpoint on records management research.

The purpose of this study is to examine within college coaches the effects of pay satisfaction and work‐family conflict (WFC) on occupational turnover intentions. Specifically, it predicts that WFC would mediate the relationship between satisfaction with pay to occupational turnover intentions.

Data were collected through a mailed questionnaire of college coaches. Regression analysis was used to test the mediated relationship.

Results confirmed a significant relationship between all variables in the study (p<0.001 for all). Using regression, when pay satisfaction and WFC were used to predict occupational turnover intentions, the mediator, WFC (β=0.29, p<0.001), maintained its effect on turnover. However, satisfaction with pay was insignificant, suggesting the mediated relationship.

While several areas within sport are impacted by dissatisfaction with pay and WFC, this sample was limited to college coaches.

Managers need to be aware of the impact of pay satisfaction and WFC have on turnover intentions, especially because of the importance turnover has on team performance. It is suggested that while pay satisfaction has a direct effect on occupational turnover intentions, WFC is one significant process through which pay satisfaction acts on an individual's intention to withdraw from the coaching occupation. It may also suggest that coaches not satisfied with pay are more aware of the conflict between work and family.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that pay satisfaction with pay and WFC are significant reasons teams lose coaches or front office personnel; however, no work has been done relating these variables and turnover.

International advertising standardization/adaptation has been a dominant area in the international marketing literature. In this chapter, we explore the evolution of thought related to international advertising standardization/adaptation beginning in the 1920s. Through a stage theory historical analysis, we decompose thought in international advertising standardization/adaptation into three unique stages: (1) practitioner evolution, (2) scholarly initiation and (3) conceptual and empirical refinement. Given this approach, we contend that the factors considered in earlier stages were necessary for later development. Further and more importantly, we argue that, for the evolution of thought in relation to international advertising standardization/adaptation to evolve, researchers must begin to engage in a number of acts central to building a unified foundation. We propose a series of issues that need to be addressed in order to advance our understanding of international advertising standardization/adaptation.

The Internet features more and more frequently in the media as the impact of the information society grows and the traffic on the information highway expands. In this article the authors explore the ways in which the Internet is affecting the field of records management. They describe the Internet, the three methods of connecting to the Net and discuss the growth of e‐mail with particular reference to its status and retention. The Internet also provides, via list servers, a forum for exchange of information amongst records managers and the most active lists are identified with their addresses given in an Appendix. The authors conclude by arguing that, although, at the present time, the idea of managing or controlling the Net runs counter to the freedom of expression which is its principal characteristic, in time the records manager will take on a greater role in preparing users to use the NET by good record‐keeping practices within business as well as encouraging fellow professionals to tap into a valuable resource for their own professional development.

In this article the authors explain how a new system has been designed to work in conjunction with existing databases to ensure a consistency of approach to retention scheduling across a variety of media and formats. The system allows for the whole life‐cycle of a record to be pre‐defined at both record series and file level. The reports produced by the system enhance a retention schedule programme that not only meets the needs of the records manager, but also serves as a ‘user‐friendly’ point of contact between himself and the users he serves. The authors will briefly explain the existing approach taken to retention scheduling at Pfizer Central Research, Sandwich and will demonstrate how this new ‘Electronic Retention Schedule’ (ERS) will enhance the current system of publishing advisory ‘guidelines’ for users and implementing ‘annual reviews’ of record holdings held in a number of different storage formats.

A family business founded by Chinese immigrants grew into a $133 million toy and costume maker by exploiting seasonal niche segments in the highly competitive, global toy industry. Sales of traditional toys stagnated when replaced by game consoles and electronic toys. Unable to compete in high tech toys, MegaToys moved instead toward seasonal products. In 2007, brothers Peter and Charlie Woo were about to pitch what they hoped would be $63 million in Easter basket sales to Wal-Mart. If Wal-Mart took the full order, it would come to represent over half of MegaToys' revenue.

The company was faced with the dilemma of how to grow, and at what pace. Charlie Woo knew that MegaToys could continue to grow as long as it was able to satisfy Wal-Mart's demands. Peter Woo wondered if this was the smartest way to grow the business. “Growth is a good thing as long as you don't sell your shirt to get it,” he noted. Should MegaToys continue to increase its sales to Wal-Mart, or would dependence on Wal-Mart eventually threaten the firm's success? Were there other, untapped opportunities for MegaToys that were well aligned with its strengths, resources, and capabilities?