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Describes the national trialling of the Management Charter Initiative Senior Management Standards which involved hundreds of senior managers in 1994‐5. Outlines the results of the field tests and concludes that the senior management standards have a high level of acceptance among senior managers across a wide variety of organizations.

Outlines the small business sector and the development of occupational standards in relation to it. Defines some of the key concepts underlying national vocational qualifications and standards. Considers the broad needs of the small business sector in relation to occupational standards as well as the value of occupational standards to small firms in helping them improve performance.

The purpose of this paper is to consider critical improvements that need to be made to the volunteer tourism industry with regard to risks to both service users and volunteers. Following an exploration of why these issues are so hard to resolve, recommendations are made for next steps forward.

The paper uses a case example of the project from which the author is a Director: Supporting Kids In Peru and draws on her additional practice experience as a child protection social worker.

The paper provides a summary of observations to encourage and support practice improvements within the volunteer tourism industry to better safeguard both volunteers and vulnerable people they may be working with.

A number of clear recommendations are made, including sharing information, improving communication and setting minimum standards, to improve the overall professionalism of the industry.

The paper provides an insightful practitioner perspective to an aspect of the tourism industry that bridges directly into social services, something which it has had little time to prepare for and has seen dramatic growth in the past few years.

Examines research activity in executive competencies, and the Management Charter Initiative M3 framework. Briefly outlines executive competency frame‐works currently being developed and indicates future directions.

Export marketing research over the last four decades has covered a number of theoretical and practical issues such as standardisation and customisation, export development processes, barriers to exporting, export performance, etc. Rapid technological, institutional, legislative, economic and attitudinal changes across the globe pose challenges for the future development of export marketing research. The emergence of turbulent and hypercompetitive business environments calls for exporters to reconsider the bases and sustainability of their competitive advantage to overseas markets. In particular, future research should focus on the identification of the right export marketing capabilities that firms should develop or acquire, the ability to leverage or transfer them across markets, and the ability to constantly upgrade them using proper organisational learning routines. Of critical importance are the processes used to develop capability‐based strategies and to manage relationships with international customers. This double issue comprises ten articles that deal with some of the main challenges posed to export marketing.

Turnover of presidents in colleges and universities occurs frequently and new presidents are rarely trained to handle communication with the range of stakeholders involved in a campus community, which is one of the most complex tasks their job requires. New presidents need guidance and insight to prepare them for this vital aspect of campus leadership. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This paper analyzes interviews with sitting presidents and vice presidents of communication at flagship universities in the USA to identify themes and best practices for presidential communication.

Analysis of interviews resulted in five consistent recommended practices: be informed about your issue and audience; utilize multiple communication channels; know when to speak; identify and use a communication team; and when you speak, use your own authentic voice.

Limited research exists on the communication process and skills needed to effectively lead colleges and universities. While incoming presidents often lack backgrounds and training in communication strategies, such strategies are required to effectively engage both internal and external audiences. The study provides new leaders with tips from seasoned leaders to enhance their communication strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the hostility many young women who are also mothers experience within their everyday lives.

The paper will draw on qualitative research, incorporating a narrative approach, to illustrate the hostility many young mothers experience on a daily basis. The research design included a focus group, semi-structure interviews and participant observations.

The paper reports the findings of a study that explored the experiences of young women who are also mothers. The author presents the findings that indicate that many young women, who are also young mothers, experience hostile reactions and interactions as part of their everyday lives.

The small sample size means that this study cannot be generalised, but it does contribute to the growing body of qualitative evidence in relation to young mothers.

The findings suggest that there needs to be more recognition and acknowledgement of the hostility young women experience. Such hostility could have deleterious consequences on the young women, their parenting ability and also on the children.

This paper documents the experiences of young women who are also mothers and how they experience hostility as a daily occurrence. The hostility ranged from verbal to non-verbal and how they felt they were being treated, inferences about their sexuality to stereotyping.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the mechanisms used by Flinders University Library to sustain a culture of research. Flinders University Library has been supporting its librarians to undertake research projects using a formal support group mechanism, known as the Research Working Group (RWG), sanctioned and resourced by library executive since 2010. This established a culture of practitioner-based research in the library, with the librarians developing a greater understanding of both the theory and practice of qualitative and quantitative methods by undertaking their own research projects. However, sustaining a research this culture brings new challenges which this paper now explores.

This case study describes the methods used at Flinders University Library in sustaining a culture of practitioner-research. This arose from a review of the formal support structure, as well as a previous study that surveyed staff responses to the RWG.

As academic libraries face ongoing challenges and engage more broadly with research support, librarians need experiential knowledge of research. In the case of Flinders University Library, the author has found that, in seeking to sustain a research culture, the author has needed to adapt the support mechanisms, including a greater emphasis on peer support, a different model of resourcing and more inclusivity for all staff to engage with research work.

This paper is limited by its scope as a single-institution case study; however, there are opportunities for other academic libraries to learn from this experience.

Establishing a culture of practice-based research is not an easy undertaking, requiring dedication from all parties whether management, practitioner-researchers or mentors. While there are many examples in the literature of case studies examining the establishment of research culture, few if any take the next steps to explore how to maintain it. This paper seeks to fill that gap.

The purpose of this research is to systematically review the properties of supply chains demonstrating that they are complex systems, and that the management of supply chains is best achieved by steering rather than controlling these systems toward desired outcomes.

The research study was designed as both exploratory and explanatory. Data were collected from secondary sources using a comprehensive literature review process. In parallel with data collection, data were analyzed and synthesized.

The main finding is the introduction of an inductive framework for steering supply chains from a complex systems perspective by explaining why supply chains have properties of complex systems and how to deal with their complexity while steering them toward desired outcomes. Complexity properties are summarized in four inter-dependent categories: Structural, Dynamic, Behavioral and Decision making, which together enable the assessment of supply chains as complex systems. Furthermore, five mechanisms emerged for dealing with the complexity of supply chains: classification, modeling, measurement, relational analysis and handling.

Recognizing that supply chains are complex systems allows for a better grasp of the effect of positive feedback on change and transformation, and also interactions leading to dynamic equilibria, nonlinearity and the role of inter-organizational learning, as well as emerging capabilities, and existing trade-offs and paradoxical tensions in decision-making. It recognizes changing dynamics and the co-evolution of supply chain phenomena in different scales and contexts.