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Companies that adopt lean operations and lean accounting ultimately should achieve better profitability and cash flows than similarly situated companies that do not adopt lean operations and lean accounting.

Archival data is analyzed through Wilcoxon signed-ranks, matched-pairs tests.

Lean companies had greater returns on net operating assets (RNOA), returns on total assets (ROA), operating cash flows, and cash-adequacy ratios than Non-Lean companies. These results were driven by the larger Lean companies. The profit margins and financing-assets ratios also were marginally better for the Lean companies than the Non-Lean companies.

Lean companies have achieved benefits proposed by the proponents of lean operations. The present study provides a starting point for further research on the financial performance of Lean companies using archival data.

There is limited research on the financial performance of Lean companies that is based on archival data. The present study fills a void in the academic literature. This study measures RNOA, which does not confound operating and financing activities. Additionally, this study utilized a methodology that provides reasonable assurance of the identification of both Lean companies and Non-Lean companies from publicly available data.

All seventeen had graciously agreed to my proposal to gather for a small conference to seek consensus. A generous grant from the Pierian Press Foundation would cover all of our expenses for a long weekend at a resort hotel; the only condition of the grant was that we offer our results to Reference Services Review for first publication. Over the past five years each of the seventeen had in turn accepted my challenge to answer the following question:

Discusses the long existing and confusing problems of establishing the relationship of who is, and who if not, a dependent worker. Reflects developments which have occurred in British law as it affects the employment field, plus an evaluation and analysis of some of the different types of employment relationships which have evolved by examining, where possible, the status of each of these relationships. Concludes that the typical worker nowadays finds himself in a vulnerable position both economically and psychologically owing to the insecurity which exists.

This paper seeks to analyse the results of a case study conducted in 2008/2009 investigating workplace stress in a further education college library service.

Results from questionnaires and a series of semi‐structured interviews held with library staff are analysed and discussed in the paper.

Librarians reported that interaction with students can be stressful or enjoyable, depending on context. The need to control noise levels, modify student behaviour and balance the needs of different user groups are cited as stressors. The results also show that the library staff exhibit a degree of humour and self‐awareness in their work and employ a range of methods to cope with stress.

Repeating the study more widely amongst a range of differing library services would add credibility to the findings.

This study shows that positive stress may motivate librarians to engage actively with students and thus create job satisfaction. Negative stress may be managed by measures such as zoning and flexible governance.

The study contributes to knowledge and understanding of stress in the library profession by contributing a case study of stress in the college sector.

The shift from paper portfolios to e-portfolios has arrived in educational institutions worldwide. This study investigates e-portfolio systems as a means of improving performance-centered assessment, enriching students’ learning experiences and documenting the students’ progress and achievements. The current study reveals the experience of implementing a course-level framework for e-portfolios and an approach taken in initiating student electronic portfolios in the Department of Educational Technology (DET) at Ajman University of Science and Technology, UAE. Data was obtained in several ways, including Likert scale responses and interviews with the participants; students’ journals and final reports; notes from the Practicum site supervisor and the DET lab technician; and analysis of the electronic portfolio product. The work and responses of the Practicum students were compared for three consecutive Practicum classes. Analysis of the results showed that developing formative and summative portfolios fluctuated extensively between the three Practicum classes of DET graduates, as did the outcomes. In spite of this fact, the findings suggested that the use of e-portfolios could serve as an influential learning and assessment tool when driven by a clear understanding of the desired outcome and the specific skills to be assessed, and when sufficiently mentored, peer-reviewed, and based on sensible principles.

The popularization of slasher as subgenre begins with the release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper, 1974) and Halloween (Carpenter, 1978). Both films serve to define the topic of the subgenre: a serial killer that often slaughters groups of teenagers, especially attractive young women, using bladed weapons (Linz & Donnerstein, 1994; Molitor & Sapolski, 1993, 1994). Thus, although the definition of the slasher is not really fixed in terms of gender, the killers have been traditionally interpreted by men, while the victims have been usually interpreted by women (Clover, 2015; Trencansky, 2001; Weaver et al., 2015). Not for nothing, another important character is the final girl, who uncovers the monster´s motivations and finishes the killer off in the final scene; an important role that is actually a form of female subjugation. However, some exceptions can be found such as Pamela Voorhees (Friday the 13th, Cunningham, 1980), but she is simply defined as Jason´s mother. More interesting is the case of the Scream saga, in particular Scream 4 (Craven, 2011) where a teenage girl, portrayed by Emma Roberts, tries to play the role of the killer and the final girl at the same time.

In recent years, the slasher has gained importance in television. After Harper’s Island (CBS, 2009), an homage to the subgenre rather than a real slasher TV show, in 2015, MTV launched Scream, based on the film series and which continues exploring the gender roles anticipated by the last movie of the saga. In the same year, Fox launched Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens (2015–2016) starred by Jamie Lee Curtis, the final girl of Prom night (Lynch, 1980) and Halloween saga, and Emma Roberts. In this regard, current television tries to renew the slasher, but starting from the clichés and even some familiar faces of the subgenre.

The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate the representation and evolution of female characters in slasher television series, exploring the relationship among the killer, the final girl and the rest of the victims. In this way, television series like Scream, Scream Queens (Fox, 2015–2016) or Slasher (Super Channel, 2016–) are analysed.

The independent living (IL) movement is a social movement but also an analytic paradigm which can be used to inform and shape rehabilitation research and practice. The purpose of this paper is to describe how the principles of DeJong’s IL paradigm have been used to develop a guiding framework for the Burwood Academy, a rehabilitation and disability research organisation in New Zealand. The Burwood Academy drew on the consumer empowerment principles inherent in DeJong’s IL paradigm, whereby the person learns to take control of the rehabilitation process, on which to promote consumer empowerment in all of the Academy’s endeavours.

This paper reports on three investigative phases of work: a stakeholder dialogue, a narrative review and a benchmarking exercise that collectively enabled the development of a working framework based on DeJong’s IL paradigm.

This paper highlights pragmatic strategies that are used to better promote consumer inclusion in the research process, build researcher capacity among consumers and clinicians, and promote knowledge translation through a range of tertiary and clinical education forums.

The results of this study identified numerous ways to promote consumer empowerment in research. Future research is needed to explore the effectiveness of the proposed framework further.

This paper suggests potential avenues to address the complexities of promoting the role of the “expert consumer” imbedded in clinical environments where this is not usually a priority in training and practice of health professionals.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study more pragmatic ways to promote consumer empowerment in both clinical and research settings.