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More than 100 macros have been written and made available on the Web since the debut of PFW in 1996. Evidently, OML has benefited many OCLC system users in automating their jobs. Nevertheless, finding the desired macros takes considerable time and effort because Web sites that provide macros present them in widely varied formats. This article presents the Web sites that currently provide macros for sharing, initiates the discussion on Web macro presentation guidelines, evaluates the presented Web sites based on these guidelines, and provides a source list of useful macros specifically for OCLC subsystem applications.

Passport for Windows (PFW) and OCLC Macro Language (OML) are a library software combination that is hard to beat in terms of power and flexibility. PFW provides a desktop where multiple telecommunications (usually telnet) sessions can exist simultaneously, and the OML permits programmatic control and automation of tasks in any individual session as well as data sharing between different sessions. The fact that an entire programming language is available to the OML macro writer is what gives PFW the ability to seemingly work "magic" literally at the touch of a key, especially through the use of conditional logic for automated decision‐making. Not only is OML available in OCLC’s PFW product, but slight variants are available in OCLC’s Cataloging MicroEnhancer and ILL MicroEnhancer products as well. Although the pros of OML far outnumber the cons, there exist some downside issues (documentation, networkability, differences between products) which sometimes make macro writing and use by staff more difficult than it needs to be. In the end, though, all the efforts are worth it, because, by using PFW/OML macros, automation can do what it is good at, thereby giving staff the time and opportunity to do what they are good at.

Passportt for Windows (PFW) is not limited to accessing OCLC’s systems. It can also access a local Libs+ system through the internet. Such a connection makes it possible to use the automation capabilities of the OCLC Macro Language (OML), which is built into PFW, for the local Libs+ system. Once certain setup requirements have been completed, PFW can be used to accomplish quickly many routine tasks and thereby increase productivity and decrease error rates. Because it can be used to automate many local tasks, PFW remains an important tool for librarians.

Consistent with traditional internationalization theory, we argue that, when a firm chooses franchising to achieve market penetration, market propinquity/similarity matters. Using a modified gravity model, we examine six country characteristics believed to enhance the flow of franchise activity among 39 nations. Our findings support the notion that market propinquity facilitates the flow of franchises between nations. Franchise expansion is greatest when the home and host nations are similar in terms of geography, culture, media availability, and political risk. The management implications of these findings are discussed in detail.

Recent studies in strategy have highlighted both the successes and failures of applying conventional perspectives in strategic management to developing markets. Within this debate, Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) strategies, aimed at exploiting high-volume, low-margins strata at the bottom of these societies, have particularly drawn interest. We critically examine the emergence and evolution of BoP strategies and compare their anticipated outcomes to some of the empirical evidence. We then draw on the concept of global value chains to usefully extend the BoP concept, and suggest areas for further theory building and empirical research. We offer a typology of BoP ventures, and suggest appropriate levels of public–private engagement to achieve the desired social and economic outcomes.

There is significant anecdotal evidence of increasing global supply chain fragility; and, for this reason, robustness and operational sustainability are of notable concern to senior executives. Though the issues are myriad, four factors dominate these concerns: increasing complexity of products, processes, and technologies, increasing structural complexity of supply chains, increasing diversity and global nature of business systems, and the environmental costs and impacts of extended supply chains. This paper aims to focus on these factors.

This conceptual, theoretical paper differentiates corporate sustainability and operational robustness in terms of profitability and costs, then defines and develops internal, external, and uncontrollable fragility factors. A process that measures and integrates these factors is proposed for brainstorming and decision making. Additionally, methods to represent and compare alternatives, progress against internal or external targets, and industry goals or known competitor values are offered.

This study describes and demonstrates an easy‐to‐implement process to address the potentially disastrous consequences of supply chain fragility.

This study offers both academicians and practitioners a model to research, assess, and identify the risks and costs of current levels of supply chain fragility and to weigh various solutions.

Unfortunately, few research efforts define these issues or identify the associated risks. Further, little has been put forward to posit, model, and facilitate the practical decision process to address these factor relationships. To these ends, the paper proposes a “fragility index” to help supply chain managers assess sources and potential costs of fragility, sustainability, and the associated environmental stress in their supply chains.

This paper reports on a benchmarking study carried out on supply chain management (SCM) activities of manufacturing organisations in New Zealand. The purpose of the paper is to report the current state of the play in this area. A postal survey was carried out to ascertain the status of SCM adoption in New Zealand, and identify the issues in SCM that are significant for New Zealand manufacturers. The findings suggest that although there is awareness of the SCM concept in New Zealand, the adoption of the newer concepts of SCM is not very far advanced.

This paper describes an exploratory research effort to analyze and classify emerging operations management practices in US manufacturing. Using a survey of senior materials and operations management professionals in the United States, this study investigates manufacturers' supplier assessment practices, new product design and development practices, just‐in‐time practices, and quality practices. This study also identifies practices that share common variance‐covariance characteristics and to what extent the observed practices are linked to their underlying factors by means of exploratory factor analysis. Finally, bivariate correlation analysis is used to examine the relationships of the factors.

Peace promotion can include culturally relevant community programming. Some agencies have used sports such as football, for example, as a vehicle for fostering social development in fractured societies. This paper explores a football project implemented in Beslan, Russia following a 2004 terrorist attack. The purpose of this paper is to examine the approach adopted and the appropriateness of using football as a tool to promote peace amongst survivors of terrorism. It also focuses on the wider impact and significance of projects in comparable contexts.

This qualitative work examines interview data obtained from eight UK-based staff and two Russian project translators. Each British interviewee also participated in a focus group with their colleagues, which is explored here also.

Football-based interventions can have beneficial outcomes in certain conditions. It is important to consider contextual nuances, the degree of cultural significance and the various necessary conditions. The use of sport for peace promotion and other forms of social involvement are reliant on a variety of components, including the design and implementation of projects and the quality of staff, together with several environmental, logistical, relational and socio-political factors.

Despite the increase in sport-for-development initiatives, meaningful research in this context is lacking. This is particularly the case in relation to peace promotion. This paper addresses a variety of challenges, approaches and outcomes associated with such projects. This work is uniquely positioned, analysing a neglected political context; it deliberately examines an atypical, exploratory, problematic initiative executed in a dangerous environment and addresses many of the questions posed through such work.

To resolve an inherent dilemma in extant research on geographically dispersed research and development (R&D), this study explores interdependencies between formal and informal network structures. Firms that seek to benefit from the decentralization associated with disperse R&D must align it with an informal structure that enhances organizational members’ motivation to share and assimilate their unique knowledge and skills. On the basis of an investigation among 424 US biotechnology firms between 1973 and 2003, this study reveals the moderating effect of the firm’s informal social structure on the effect that geographically dispersed R&D personnel have on the exploration of new technological opportunities. Specifically, the higher the social network density among R&D members, the more likely geographic disparity is to affect exploration; however, this likelihood decreases with an increase in power asymmetries. These results offer insights into the conditions in which the appropriate management of geographically dispersed R&D varies.