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Writing just a few years ago in The New York Times Book Review (January 10, 1982), Edwin McDowell, publishing correspondent of the Times, discussed what he termed “The Paperback Evolution”: the substantive changes in paperback book publishing that had occurred in the nearly half century since the “paperback revolution” of the 1930s, when Robert DeGraff launched his enormously successful Pocket Books line and spawned a host of imitators of not only his products but of his pioneering, entrepreneurial distribution tactics—probably the biggest factor in the success of the Pocket Books line. A little more than three years later, McDowell wrote another column on paperbacks in the NYTBR (September 28, 1985), and this time he entitled his article “Turmoil in the Racks: The Second Paperback Revolution.” What had happened during that brief period that made him see this type of publishing going from “evolutionary” to “revolutionary,” and what implications does such radical change have for the library collection‐building process—if any? For answers to these questions, a look at paperback publishing, particularly mass market, over the last decade or so is in order.

No topic in medical education has received more attention and generated more discussion in recent years than that of “professionalism”. In many ways, this should come as no surprise in light of the dramatic technical and scientific advances in medicine, the changing, and often confounding, roles of physicians in complex health care systems, and the growing expectation throughout society that physicians should provide more effective, patient-centered care. Any of these factors alone is sufficient to create anxiety and confusion about basic duties and responsibilities of physicians to patients, the medical profession and to society. In this complex, demanding, commercialized and yet, values-laden, world of health care it is an understatement to say that there are fundamental challenges to what it means to be a medical professional in today's society.

In the present world of constant connectivity, the barrage system, as a system of real-time dynamic comments coupled with video content, has become a popular interactive system technology for video sharing platforms. This study investigates how barrage system fluctuation characteristics, namely, barrage fluctuation amplitude and frequency, impact user interaction.

The research model was estimated with a fixed-effects regression applied to a longitudinal panel dataset collected from one of the most popular video sharing platforms in China (Bilibili.com).

Barrage fluctuation frequency has positive effects on users' real-time (synchronous) barrage interaction and the traditional (asynchronous) comment interaction. Barrage fluctuation amplitude has a positive effect on users' real-time (synchronous) barrage interaction but a negative effect on traditional (asynchronous) comment interaction. In addition, the interaction effects of the barrage fluctuation frequency and the barrage fluctuation amplitude on user interaction show adverse effects.

The results revealed the impact of different barrage fluctuation characteristics on different forms of interaction and provide important theoretical contributions and managerial implications in terms of user interaction on video sharing platforms.

This volume of essays is based upon the proceedings of a conference on “Ethics and Epidemics” hosted in March 2004 by Albany Medical College and the Graduate College of Union University in the wake of the SARS epidemic. The SARS epidemic was a stark reminder of how quickly infectious disease can spread in our era of fast and frequent worldwide travel. Furthermore, it reawakened interest in and debate about major ethical, policy, political and social issues that arise as societies respond to such acute threats to health, life and liberty. Current concerns about the threat of avian influenza, due to the H5N1 virus, and its potential to evolve into a worldwide pandemic highlight the urgent need to address these issues.

This exploratory study aims to investigate consumers' perceptions, attitudes, and purchase intention for restaurants that employ a significant amount of service staff with disabilities. The influences of consumers' characteristics and dining occasions on purchase intention were also examined.

The authors employed a single-factor (dining occasion) experimental design. A convenient sample was used and a total of 192 consumers participated in this study.

Consumers demonstrated a moderately positive purchase intention for a restaurant that employs a significant amount of service staff with disabilities; however, the purchase intention varied by dining occasions. The likelihood of choosing this type of restaurant was higher in a family/friends occasion than in business or romantic occasions.

This study employed a convenient sample and the findings might be limited to the casual dining restaurant context. Future research should examine the relationship between purchase intention and perceived social responsibility, restaurant image, or specific disabilities.

This study suggests that hiring a significant amount of service staff with disabilities might be a better strategy for restaurants that target family/friends gatherings. Meanwhile, managers need to be more strategic when they assign employees with disabilities to serve guests who are in a business or romantic dining situation.

This is the first study that empirically investigates consumers' perspectives on restaurant service staff with disabilities in the USA.

This paper first presents a research framework for e‐service evaluation within four categories: cost, benefit, functions and development, each incorporating a number of factors. Through data analysis and hypotheses testing, inter‐relationships among the factors of the four categories are examined. The results show that the development type of an e‐service has a significant effect on the degree of user satisfaction. Expertise, technique and expense are the principle factors limiting current e‐service adoption. The most significant finding is that, in the development of e‐services, certain cost factors are significantly more important than others in relation to certain benefit factors. The finding is presented as a cost‐benefit factor‐relation model. This provides an insight into whether investment in certain areas of e‐service applications is more important than in others for particular business objectives. These results have the potential to improve the strategic planning of companies by determining more effective investment areas and adopting more suitable development activities where e‐services are concerned.

The purpose of this paper is to bring definitional clarity to the term “virtue” as pertinent to the behavioural sciences literatures on leadership; to identify a short and consolidated list of cardinal virtues commonly associated with leadership effectiveness; to provide a model relating leader virtues to leader outcomes (i.e. ethics, happiness, life satisfaction, and effectiveness); and to propose a program of research.

The authors systematically and comprehensively review Aristotelian and Confucian literatures on virtue ethics, and the literatures on seven leadership styles – i.e. moral, ethical, spiritual, servant, transformational, charismatic, and visionary leadership.

Six virtues, including four considered cardinal by Aristotle (courage, temperance, justice and prudence), and two considered cardinal by Confucius (humanity, and truthfulness), were common to all seven leadership styles.

Researchers should aim to develop and validate a measure of virtuous leadership based on the six cardinal virtues presented here and also to test both the proposed measurement and structural models.

The authors' recommended program of research will ideally inform development and design of selection and training programs for enhancing virtuous leadership.

The authors provide definitional clarity to the term “virtue” – one that is well grounded in the moral philosophy and virtue ethics literatures; consolidate vast and varied literatures on seven different widely subscribed leadership styles and identify six cardinal virtues most likely to positively impact leadership effectiveness; present an organizing framework, structural model, and research agenda to catalyze research on virtuous leadership.

This paper aims to identify the factors of willingness to pay for halal transportation among Muslim consumers in Malaysia by extending the theory of planned behaviour with knowledge and religiosity.

Applying a purposive sampling method, data were gathered from questionnaires distributed to Muslim consumers at Malls in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. From 250 Muslims who were approached, 200 respondents agreed to answer the questionnaire. SMART-PLS 3.2.8. was used to analyse the data for this study using a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach.

Attitude (ATT), Subjective Norm (SN) and Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC) have a positive relationship with the Willingness to Pay (WTP). However, religiosity is found as an insignificant factor towards the WTP. Knowledge and religiosity are significant predictors of the attitude. Attitude is found to have a mediating effect on the relationship between knowledge and the WTP, and for religiosity towards the WTP. Awareness moderates the positive relationship between ATT and the WTP for halal transportation services. Meanwhile, awareness is found as an insignificant moderator between SN and the WTP, and for the PBC and the WTP.

The findings provide useful information on the WTP for halal transportation. Related parties such as the government, halal transport service providers and customers can use these findings to plan further action to enhance the WTP for halal transportation

The study reveals the capability of the TPB to identify the factors of WTP for halal transportation among Muslim consumers in Malaysia. The findings also show the moderation effects of awareness on the TPB. The findings also enrich the literature on the WTP in halal studies

This study aims to identify the key activities after sales and the intended criteria by the customers, considering their expected services after the product purchase process.

This study is a qualitative approach, and the co-creation logic and the Delphi technique were used in two rounds to design and validate the proposed model. To achieve this study’s aims, extensive literature, interviews, interaction and exploratory meetings were reviewed with manufacturers and consumers, and then the dimensions of the proposed model were regulated, corrected and validated in the two-round Delphi technique. The final model is presented after establishing the model in the test pilots and getting feedback from industry experts. To present a conceptual model, the enabler’s logic and the underlying results in the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model were used.

The findings of this study include the identification of dimensions for the after-sales services model and the designing of a conceptual model in both sections of enablers and results. The enabler section of the proposed model includes seven dimensions, three main sectors and four support sections.

This model can be used to design, deploy or improve after-sales services system in manufacturing companies.

For the first time in an innovative procedure, the approach of value co-creation was used to design one of the organizational systems (after-sale services system). On the other hand, the conceptual pattern was proposed inspired by the EFQM Excellence Model, to create the necessary proportionality between the enabler and results sections.