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This study aims to identify barriers to social sustainability in the health-care industry in the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, the impact of these dimensions on social sustainability is examined.

A comprehensive questionnaire has been developed based on semi-structured interviews with different departments of two tertiary hospitals in the first phase. In the second phase, data are collected from ten public and private hospitals situated in the United Arab Emirates. In the third phase, responses are examined using principal component analysis to identify the five major barriers for social sustainability. A measurement model (confirmatory analysis) is developed to examine the relationship among these dimensions. Finally, a structural model is developed to examine the significance of these dimensions to the notion of social sustainability in health care.

The statistical model shows a 61 per cent variance for social sustainability, which is caused by infrastructure, organizational culture, lack of coordination, stakeholder’s disparity and uncertainty, which are positively and highly correlated measurement barriers to social sustainability practices implementation.

Health-care professionals and stakeholders believe that the elimination of obstacles to social sustainability must be multi-dimensional and not limited to specific practices.

This study would enable health-care industry to examine the extent of obstruction for social sustainability. Hospital administrators and medical professionals could use this feedback to assess and benchmark their performance against that of other competitive hospitals.

The contribution of this paper is to advance the understanding of social sustainability in the health-care sector by viewing it from the perspective of the stakeholders and the social exchanges that occur among them.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a critical synthesis of the dynamics of narcissistic leadership in organizations. Moreover, this paper offers suggestions for research aimed at providing greater insight into this form of leadership.

The paper comprises a review of the latest scientific research in the field of narcissistic leadership. In strictly methodological terms, this synthesis can thus be classified as a literature review.

The paper presents details of four factors that can trigger manifestations of narcissistic leadership: idiosyncratic, cultural, environmental and structural factors.

Based on a comprehensive review of the literature, this paper proposes an analysis of the dominant characteristics and dynamics of narcissistic leadership, essentially from the point of view of a pathological narcissism of the overt (grandiose) type. It would be interesting to extend the exploration to another form of narcissistic leadership – namely, covert (vulnerable) leadership.

Through its exploration of the nature and limits of narcissistic leadership, this paper proposes avenues of research that could have interesting managerial applications.

To the author's knowledge, this is the first synthesis to propose an integrated research model that incorporates the antecedents, components and consequences of narcissistic leadership in organizations.

A discussion “ On the Neglect of Science in Commerce and Industry ” seems to involve the assumption that this neglect is general if not total. As this would be an exaggeration, I prefer to speak of the inadequate appreciation of science in the British commercial and industrial world. During the last thirty years immense efforts have been made to provide instruction in physical science for all classes in the community, and with some success. Every British university is provided with laboratories and gives degrees in science; the number of colleges and technical schools has increased enormously, and the quality of the teaching provided has greatly improved, while there are but few secondary schools which are not furnished with good laboratories in which physical science is taught up to a comparatively advanced stage. Out of these universities, colleges, and schools proceed annually many hundreds of young people with a tincture of scientific knowledge, some of them possessing even a certain amount of practical skill and experience. I do not refer to engineers whose training and professional qualifications require separate discussion.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a new model allowing the implementation of a benchmarking process that jointly measure the efficiency of franchise chains and determine their optimal organizational form.

The methodology is based on a non-econometric technique developed by management scientists on economic concepts for evaluating the performance of decision-making units and implementing a benchmarking process. An extended model is developed in the paper for evaluating the efficiency and determining the optimal percentage of company-owned outlets (PCO) of each franchise chain.

First, results showed that the PCO has a positive impact on franchise chain efficiency; even if other chain characteristics have a larger impact. Second, the optimization of the PCO allows for additional improvements in efficiency.

Even though this study has some limitations (e.g. sample and variable selection), it contributes to the literature on franchising by providing an approach allowing us to answer to the question of Shane (1998) on the optimal proportion of franchised units given other firm characteristics.

By developing a model that allows for the joint evaluation of franchise chain efficiency and optimal PCO, this study offers to franchisors a new benchmarking process allowing for both a competitive and functional benchmarking.

The originality of this research can be found in the new model developed for allowing a benchmarking of franchise chains that allows an evaluation of efficiency jointly with a determination of their optimal organizational form.

LIBRARIES are not a first priority in the building programme of the nation. It would be difficult to make them so. The Library Association Council, we are assured, have this matter under consideration continually and will lose no opportunity to urge the need for extensions of old buildings and for new ones. The demand for libraries grows, in the face of other needs, at a pace which is both a pleasure and an embarassment to librarians. Some authorities have made provision for new libraries this year in budgets which come under consideration this month, and we hope the Ministry concerned will allow some of these projects to be realized.

Just as universalism was a fundamental value underpinning the creation of the post‐war welfare state, so personalisation is rapidly gaining a similar status in contemporary public service reform. This paper explores the background to both concepts and their current relevance for better outcomes. In particular, it seeks to understand how far they represent competing values and what kind of balance between them might be necessary to improve the health and well‐being of individuals and communities. However, and as this last statement implies, neither can be considered in isolation from the wider outcomes they are intended to secure for people and places.

Behavior problems are common in toddlers and preschoolers. Richman, Stevenson, and Graham (1975) identified difficulties with eating, sleeping, toileting, temper, fears, peer relations, and activity as typical in this young population. While all young children should be expected to experience behavior problems as part of their normal development, an ongoing challenge in the field has been to determine when these “normal” developmental problems rise to the level of being considered “clinical” behavior problems (Keenan & Wakschlag, 2000). For example, when does a two-year-old child's tantrum behavior, a three-year-old's urinary accidents, and a four-year-old's defiance become clinically significant? To answer these questions, clinicians must examine the frequency, intensity, and durability of these difficulties, their potential to cause injury to the child or others, the extent to which they interfere with the child development, and the degree to which they disrupt the lives of their siblings, caregivers, peers, teachers, and others.

By formulating a vision that provides for a solid foundation for the virtual library, we can dramatically improve existing library services and create new ones with added value. The new library paradigm will be built on software and hardware information technology. Related requirements include distributed computing and networking; open architectures and standards; authentication, authorization, and encryption; and billing and royalty tracking. The “virtual library tool kit” will include reduced dependence on word indexing and keyword/Boolean retrieval; development and application of natural language processing; and effective tools for navigation of networks. Carnegie Mellon University offers some helpful examples of how information technology and information retrieval may be used to build the virtual library.