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The study presents preliminary findings from research begun at the 2005 Academy of Human Resource Development International Research Conference held in Estes Park, CO, USA. The qualitative case study captures what new learning occurred as a result of the conference and how the new learning at the conference occurred.

The qualitative case study used conceptual foundations grounded within critical theory and focused on learning organizations, communities of practice (CoP), and knowledge generation.

Participant reactions documented on approximately 1,000 data forms were categorized for this preliminary study as critical perspectives on HRD where typically underrepresented voices critiqued the conference, CoP as relationships between theory and practice where participants reported that theory to practice was a rich research topic, and learning organizations where results indicated that the academy benefits through conferences in terms of creating a learning organization.

Preliminary results were based on preliminary analysis of data forms only. Future reports will include in‐depth analyses of data forms, and results of interviews and other collected data such as journals and observations.

Findings are important to conference planning and evaluation that seeks to create and sustain new learning.

The study is the first of its kind addressing the way conferences can influence the creation of new learning and how learning occurs.

Information we receive from and create together with our social networks is becoming increasingly important. Social information has in many ways a great impact on our information behaviour and there are many possible angles and layers in studying social aspects in information science. This book presents some of these angles. This book is relevant for various actors in the library and information science field and will be useful for researchers, educators and practitioners while coordinating empirical research on social information and by providing an overview of some of the present research about social information.

The millennium found the first ever training in Britain of the American Pesso-Boyden System Psychomotor (PBSP) method of adult reparative growth taking place with a dozen experienced leadership development specialists. They quickly proceeded to incorporate this psychodynamic cum systemic approach within their successful practiceportfolios. What is the influence of PBSP on their coaching and personal development work with senior, fully functioning, high performing executives? A qualitative analysis based in their reported practice identifies two specific technical adaptations illustrated empirically and conceptually elaborated in this paper. The authors speculate on the implications of these preliminary outcomes from PBSP practice within the context of tentative neuroscientific understanding and underpinning psychodynamic theoretical assumptions. They conclude questioning a core premise of ‘talk therapy.’

Researchers have identified various recruiter and organization characteristics that individually influence staffing effectiveness. In extending contemporary research, the purpose of this paper is to address a straightforward question unexamined in previous research, namely, does recruiter political skill interact with organization reputation to influence applicant attraction in the recruitment process? Specifically, the authors hypothesized that for recruiters high in political skill, as organization reputation increases, applicant attraction to the organization increases. Alternatively, for recruiters low in political skill, as organization reputation increases, there is no change in applicant attraction to the organization.

Three studies were conducted to create the experimental manipulation materials, pilot test them and then conduct tests of the hypotheses. Study 1 created and tested the content validity of the recruiter political skill script. Study 2 reported on the effectiveness of the recruiter political skill experimental manipulation, whereby a male actor was hired to play the part of a recruiter high in political skill and one low in political skill. Finally, Study 3 was the primary hypothesis testing investigation.

Results from a 2×2 between-subjects experimental study (N=576) supported the hypotheses. Specifically, high recruiter political skill and favorable organization reputation each demonstrated significant main effects on applicant attraction to the organization. Additionally, the authors hypothesized, and confirmed, a significant organization reputation × recruiter political skill interaction. Specifically, findings demonstrated that increases in organization reputation resulted in increased applicant attraction to the organization for those exposed to a recruiter high in political skill. However, the effect was not for a recruiter low in political skill.

Despite the single source nature of data collections, the authors took steps to minimize potential biasing factors (e.g. time separation, including affectivity). Future research will benefit from gathering multiple sources of data. In addition, no experimental research to date exists, examining political skill in a laboratory context. This finding has important implications for the growing research base on political skill in organizations.

First impressions are lasting impressions, and it is very costly to organizations when recruiters lose good candidates due to the failure to make a memorable and favorable impression. This paper supports the use of political skill in the recruitment process and highlights its capability to influence and attract job applicants to organizations successfully.

Despite its scientific and practical appeal, the causal effects of political skill on important work outcomes in an experimental setting have not been formally investigated. As the first experimental investigation of political skill, the authors can see more clearly and precisely what political skill behaviors of recruiters tend to influence applicant attraction to organizations in the recruitment process.

Marketing orientation refers to a culture in which organizations strive to create superior value for their customers (and superior performance for the business) by focusing on customer needs and long-term profitability. Some studies have found that firms with a high degree of marketing orientation experience improved performance; others have found mixed or nonsignificant results. The marketing orientation of small businesses has not been thoroughly investigated, however. This study of more than 200 small business CEOs examines the marketing orientation levels of small to medium-sized firms (SMEs) as well as the impact of various internal variables (sales/profit performance, company characteristics, and CEO characteristics) on marketing orientation levels. The results confirm some earlier research on marketing orientation and provide new insights into this important strategic dimension.

Notwithstanding a number of studies that led to the development of different performance measurement systems incorporating contingency factors, very scarce research on the variety of balanced scorecards (BSCs) indicators used in performance management were carried out in France. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to investigate if there is a significant relationship between contingency factors and the content of balanced scorecards in terms of the degree of use and a variety of performance indicators.

In total, 2,580 French intermediate-sized enterprises (ISE) were identified through the Diane Database (Bureau Van Dijck) then contacted by the means of a survey questionnaire that was built online using LimeSurvey software. This study receives 156 complete and usable responses. The research model was tested through multiple regressions and multi-group analyses.

The results show that ISEs financial managers do not use, to the same extent, all the indicators constituting the four dimensions of BSCs. Therefore, BSCs implemented by French ISEs can be described as “unbalanced”. Furthermore, three contingency factors (computerization, decentralization and market listing) were found to be significantly associated with the variety and degree of use of performance indicators in balanced scorecards. The remaining contingency and control factors did not seem to influence the degree of use and variety of BSCs content.

The findings highlight the importance of developing tools that have the potential to evolve in line with organizational, environmental and technological changes. Furthermore, this paper provides food for thought for financial directors and management controllers as to how to better meet senior management, managers and operational staff information needs.

While there is scarce academic work on BSCs in ISEs, the present research is, to the best of the knowledge, one of the rarest to apply and test a contingency approach on a sample of ISEs.

The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a literature review of the first twenty‐five years of TLA poses some challenges and requires some decisions. The primary organizing principle could be a strict chronology of the published research, the research questions addressed, the automated information retrieval (IR) systems that generated the data, the results gained, or even the researchers themselves. The group of active transaction log analyzers remains fairly small in number, and researchers who use transaction logs tend to use this method more than once, so tracing the development and refinement of individuals' uses of the methodology could provide insight into the progress of the method as a whole. For example, if we examine how researchers like W. David Penniman, John Tolle, Christine Borgman, Ray Larson, and Micheline Hancock‐Beaulieu have modified their own understandings and applications of the method over time, we may get an accurate sense of the development of all applications.

The WHATT forum focussed on the key relationships between industry and academics in the context of research. It revealed that significant differences exist in the importance placed on research by the major industry sectors of tourism and hospitality, and that the hospitality sector in particular has a decision culture based on instinct rather than research. The forum raised a number of questions based on the observable differences in the understanding of “research” between industry and academe, and presented views on these questions. The outcomes were positive in at least establishing a dialogue and creating a better mutual understanding to better inform debate.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the process through which an International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) pilot company adopted “integrated reporting” (IR), a management innovation that merges financial and non-financial reporting.

A seven-year longitudinal ethnographic study based on semi-structured interviews, observations, and documentary evidence is used to analyze this multinational company’s IR adoption process from its decision to become an IIRC pilot organization to the publication of its first integrated report.

Findings demonstrate that the company envisioned IR as a “rational myth” (Hatchuel, 1998; Hatchuel and Weil, 1992). This conceptualization acted as a springboard for IR adoption, with the mythical dimension residing in the promise that IR had the potential to portray global performance in light of the company’s own foundational myth. The company challenged the vision of IR suggested by the IIRC to stay true to its conceptualization of IR and eventually chose to implement its own version of an integrated report.

The study enriches previous research on IR and management innovations by showing how important it is for organizations to acknowledge the mythical dimension of the management innovations they pursue to support their adoption processes. These findings, suggest that myths can play a productive role in transforming business (reporting) practices. Some transition conditions that make this transformation possible are identified and the implications of these results for the future of IR, sustainability, and accounting more broadly are discussed.

Drawing upon the theoretical concept of social identities, the purpose of this paper is to investigate if an aboriginal employee resource group (ERG) helps to improve connectedness between the participants of the ERG and the organization in a Canadian context.

Qualitative research was used to interview 13 members of this ERG situated within a large Canadian bank.

The ERG created a positive experience for its members. It provided a bridge between the aboriginal identity and the organizational identity. Those who were part of the ERG felt that it encouraged them to bond to their cultural identity and that it also generated affirmative connections to the organization.

For employers seeking a more diverse workforce who have struggled with retaining employees from marginalized groups, ERGs may prove helpful.

This study posits a theoretical perspective of how ERGs are able to connect minority members to organizations through the recognition of dual identities. This is also the first study to examine the benefits of an aboriginal ERG.