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SCHEMES FOR the national library services of developing countries make the British library world seem positively victorian by comparison. Two factors, however, are likely to be agents of change in the next few years. At the apex of the pyramid, the proposals for the British Library will rationalise the British Museum, the National Central Library, the National Lending Library for Science and Technology and the British National Bibliography complex. At more local levels, the re‐organisation of local government in England will ensure more effective provision of public library services under unitary control.

Although it is widely acknowledged that health care delivery systems are complex adaptive systems, there are gaps in understanding the application of systems engineering approaches to systems analysis and redesign in the health care domain. Commonly employed methods, such as statistical analysis of risk factors and outcomes, are simply not adequate to robustly characterize all system requirements and facilitate reliable design of complex care delivery systems. This is especially apparent in institutional-level systems, such as patient safety programs that must mitigate the risk of infections and other complications that can occur in virtually any setting providing direct and indirect patient care. The case example presented here illustrates the application of various system engineering methods to identify requirements and intervention candidates for a critical patient safety problem known as failure to rescue. Detailed descriptions of the analysis methods and their application are presented along with specific analysis artifacts related to the failure to rescue case study. Given the prevalence of complex systems in health care, this practical and effective approach provides an important example of how systems engineering methods can effectively address the shortcomings in current health care analysis and design, where complex systems are increasingly prevalent.

IN JUNE, I broke my 18‐month‐long moratorium on public speaking—a blessed rest!—to travel to the Isle of Wight to talk to the members of HATRICS assembled for their AGM. I attempted to repay the kindly hospitality of Hampshire County Librarian John Beard, IoW County Librarian Len Mitchell and his Deputy, Mike Howley, by a lengthy disquisition on the endlessly fascinating topic of myself, at the end of which I woke up the assembled company in time for tea by banging on the table with my trumpet, whereat they sneezed and expressed themselves well satisfied.

During the past decade, there has been vast investment in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system packages, in addition to a significant increase in the importance of acceptance by users of the ERP system regarding the success or failure of ERP implementation. The purpose of this paper is to identify the external factors which influence ERP system acceptance. The work is motivated by the realization that transformational leadership (TL) and ERP system self-efficacy are critical external factors that can affect ERP system acceptance.

A framework has been developed from a study of literature in the field of TL, ERP system self-efficacy and the technology acceptance model (TAM). A survey utilizing a questionnaire was used to collect data and a total of 151 usable responses were analyzed by using the partial least squares method.

The results of the study indicate that TL can either directly or indirectly influence perceived usefulness via the assimilation of self-efficacy in a positive manner. Also, TL has been found to have a positive influence on perceived ease of use both directly and indirectly via application of self-efficacy measures.

The findings were drawn from two Iranian companies, hence the results are not necessarily generalizable to other nations and other cultures.

Management should provide TL development programs for their ERP leaders and encourage them to implement transformation in a manner that could increase assimilation and application of self-efficacy when using the ERP system.

The study can provide ERP managers with a better understanding of how they can use TL behavior and skills in motivating and enhancing employees’ self-efficacy in order to achieve ERP system usage success.

This study aims to examine the levels of interim financial reporting (IR) disclosure by listed firms in the Asia-Pacific region and factors influencing these disclosure levels.

Drawing on a sample of 700 interim reports issued in 2012 by the top 100 listed firms in seven Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam), the author constructed a disclosure index consisting of disclosure items commonly required across the sample countries. Using this index, the study measures the extent to which listed firms in the Asia-Pacific Region comply with IR disclosure requirements. The study performs ordinary least square regression to investigate the influence of the four country-level factors including international financial reporting standard (IFRS) adoption, audit review, reporting frequency and reporting lag.

This research documents that IR disclosure varies significantly across the region. The IR disclosure levels are positively associated with IFRS adoption, audit review and mandatory of quarterly reporting, but negatively associated with reporting lag.

IR regulation varies across the Asia-Pacific region, but there is no existing research on the country-level factors influencing IR disclosure practices. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper providing some insights into IR disclosure levels by listed firms in the region. It also contributes to the disclosure literature by providing empirical evidence on the country-level factors influencing these disclosure levels. Deriving from the findings, the authors offer recommendations for regulators, investors and listed firms on the issue of reviewing the regulation, using information and preparing IR.