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Four demographic variables (education, age, gender and internet use) and two psychographic variables (attitude towards NASCAR sponsors and NASCAR involvement) were investigated for impact on NASCAR fan ability to recall sponsor brands. Regression analysis indicates that the above variables are significant predictors of ability to recall sponsor brands, combining to explain 33% of observed variance.

This chapter explores differences in fringe, distant, and remote rural public library assets for asset-based community development (ABCD) and the relationships of those assets to geographic regions, governance structures, and demographics.

The author analyzes 2013 data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture using nonparametric statistics and data mining random forest supervised classification algorithms.

There are statistically significant differences between fringe, distant, and remote library assets. Unexpectedly, median per capita outlets (along with service hours and staff) increase as distances from urban areas increase. The Southeast region ranks high in unemployment and poverty and low in median household income, which aligns with the Southeast’s low median per capita library expenditures, staff, hours, inventory, and programs. However, the Southeast’s relatively high percentage of rural libraries with at least one staff member with a Master of Library and Information Science promises future asset growth in those libraries. State and federal contributions to Alaska libraries propelled the remote Far West to the number one ranking in median per capita staff, inventory, and programs.

This study is based on IMLS library system-wide data and does not include rural library branches operated by nonrural central libraries.

State and federal contributions to rural libraries increase economic, cultural, and social capital creation in the most remote communities. On a per capita basis, economic capital from state and federal agencies assists small, remote rural libraries in providing infrastructure and services that are more closely aligned with libraries in more populated areas and increases library assets available for ABCD initiatives in otherwise underserved communities.

Even the smallest rural library can contribute to ABCD initiatives by connecting their communities to outside resources and creating new economic, cultural, and social assets.

Analyzing rural public library assets within their geographic, political, and demographic contexts highlights their potential contributions to ABCD initiatives.

Responding to the increased visibility of populist demagogues in the critical and cultural discourses of contemporary Western society, recent activity within the academy has sought to clarify, develop and (re)define populism as a phenomenon. Via analyses of Aliens (Cameron, 1986), The Running Man (Glaser, 1987) and Robocop (Verhoeven, 1987), this chapter draws upon these conceptualisations to revisit a sample of action heroes from the eighties action cinema. Exploring the intersection of these gendered identities with the aesthetics of ideational populism, the chapter demonstrates how such texts have helped shape the nature of the action cinema genre from the outset. In doing so, the chapter considers (1) how these narratives construct a duality of homogenous antagonistic groups, organised around a virtuous people and corrupt self-serving elite, thereby mirroring the fundamental conditions of populism, (2) how the super-objectives guiding the principles and actions of characters operate as gendered and thin-centred ideologies which fail to offer meaningful solutions to the wider socio-political issues encountered, and (3) how Richards, Ripley and Robocop are positioned as self-appointed demagogues, who pursue personal, rather than common, solutions and often operate without conventional societal constraints.

Purpose – To describe the evolution of an integrated ‘lean’ and ‘agile’ supply chain process that employed Just‐in‐time (JIT) lean manufacturing approaches at an electronics company. Design/methodology/approach – A case study was designed to examine the links between specific efficiencies and cost savings that derived from transitions in the evolution of the integrated lean and agile supply chain. The case study focused on the company's supply chain management innovations that led to specific improvements in production processes that in turn resulted in enhanced financial outcomes. Findings – The data revealed how specific quality enhancing and lean manufacturing components evolved over a period of seven years in a two stage transition from a ‘lean’ supply chain to one that represented an integrated lean and agile paradigm based on the decoupling point approach (Christopher & Towill, 2001). Research limitations/implications – A single site case study limits the generalizability of the findings. Additional research is necessary to replicate the findings in other firms/industries. Practical implications – By incorporating improvements in production processes in the supply chain, managers can determine how inefficiencies in the supply chain process can be tracked and eliminated to improve a firm's financial performance. Originality/value – Research that documents links between different managerial functions, e.g. supply chain management, improved manufacturing processes, and accounting issues (e.g. cost reduction and improved profitability), is particularly useful.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the perceived benefits of public libraries between five culturally different countries: Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, South Korea and the USA.

The data were based on representative samples of Finnish, Norwegian, Dutch, Korean and American adult library users. In Finland a mail survey was used and in other countries web surveys were used for data collection. The distribution of the proportion of those benefiting from the library in various areas of life at least sometimes was compared across countries. The pattern of benefits was compared across countries by forming four outcome indexes from the 19 benefit areas. The differences in the outcomes between the countries were explained by demographics and library use variables.

The intensity of perceived benefits differ considerably, with the Finns and Americans reporting a higher level of benefits than the South Koreans, who in turn derive more profit than the Norwegians and the Dutch. The large difference in library supply between Finland and other countries may explain the differences in the perceived benefits in part of other countries but the USA.

The study covered only some socio-economic and library usage factors as independent variables explaining the variation of benefit patterns. A more thorough analysis of library supply between the countries may explain some differences in perceived benefits.

The policy implications of these findings are discussed.

This is the first across-country study comparing and explaining the patterns of perceived benefits between culturally different countries.

This paper aims to focus on one of the most frequently cited problems with respect to the performance management process: the prevalence of performance appraisal distortion.

Through semi‐structured interviews with managers, this paper attempts to answer the following question: Which factors influence managers' motivation to distort the performance evaluation ratings of their subordinates?

This paper offers three main contributions or implications. First, from a methodological point of view, using a qualitative research design to investigate the appraisal of subordinates' performance is useful because it allows us to reduce the gap between research and practice. Second, this study shows that researchers must embrace or integrate various theoretical perspectives (rational, affective, political, strategic, cultural, justice, and symbolic), given that managers' motivation to evaluate subordinate performance cannot be analyzed outside of the social context. Third, from a practical point of view, managers' motivation to evaluate subordinate performance is less about the technique used and more about leadership support, execution, and overall performance culture.

To date, prior research has focused on improving performance appraisal accuracy through experimental research design by emphasizing rating criteria, rater errors, rater training, and the various rating methods. Despite extensive research, very little progress has been made toward improving rater accuracy.