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The purpose of this study is to document and analyze the success story of YouTube as a social network site in a competitive market, offering important academic and managerial implications.

Historical methods were used for investigation. This study applies the Resource-Advantage theory to identify key events in the history of YouTube from archival documents and evaluates and synthesizes the evidence to recount the channel’s evolution.

YouTube faced challenges from competitors across various industries since its launch. It has used its global user base and technological skills to develop innovative market offerings for users, contributors and marketers. YouTube built long-term relationships with stakeholders, continuously adapted to external changes and initiated internal alignments to compete in multiple industries. Over time, despite several changes in the competitive landscape, YouTube has grown into a successful media firm, competing across traditional broadcasting, gaming, live TV streaming and SNS industries. It is an exciting tale in the history of social networking.

This study significantly contributes to the marketing history of social network sites and platform-specific scholarship by applying the Resource-Advantage theory to document the evolution of YouTube.

The Open University (OU) in the UK has been providing distance learning since 1969. The purpose of this case study is to outline the impact that The OU Library in the UK has had on student learning outcomes by embedding academic literature and digital and information literacy (DIL) skills materials in the curriculum.

The case study presents an overview of the university context, including how the curriculum is developed. It discusses the role of the library in this process, outlining how librarians work with academic staff to embed skills and literature in the curriculum. Unique in-house technical solutions are presented to aid future approaches to providing distance library services.

The impact of the library on university education is discussed. Findings from qualitative research are presented, outlining the value the university places on the role of the library as an educational partner. Quantitative research studies are also presented, outlining the positive relationships between library content access and training attendance with student success.

As universities are considering their distance-learning offerings post-COVID-19, it is hoped that this case study will help both library and university administrators examine the role of their libraries in this strategy.

A case study on the approach The OU Library takes to support education in its broadest sense has not been published before.

Anyone seeking to influence another is a potential leader. Within higher education, determining what an institution should undertake on sustainability can be daunting. Sustainability leaders face labyrinthine, multifaceted sub-cultures, influencers and viewpoints across staff, students, government, business and alumni all with an opinion on whether, how and in what order of priority sustainability should be taken forward. In this paper we take on this challenge by synthesising and critically evaluating core principles and working models for influencing and leading for sustainability in higher education. We identify a series of eight challenges affecting delivery of sustainability and seek to understand how conceptual models and principles in sustainability decision-making and leadership could address these. We draw on the experience of both authors, in tandem with comments from workshop and leadership training programme participants who attended the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC) Leadership Lab training in the UK, as well as reflections arising in a detailed case study from the University of Edinburgh. We bring key insights from theory and practice for the benefits of individuals or teams seeking to influence and persuade key decision-makers to embrace the sustainability agenda.