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In 2007, India accounted for one‐third of the total $17‐billion global market for analytics. However, the rate of adoption of analytics for decision making and enhancing the customer experience has been slow on the uptake. While the term “analytics” has found universal usage in almost all business platforms, what it refers to and the specific contexts in which it ought to be used is still ambiguous among senior managers in the Indian corporate milieu. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the analytics in the business context across organizations in India.

To uncover the antecedents of these observations, at least in part, the authors conducted a survey among 84 senior managers across domains, company profiles and regions across the country.

It was found that an effective understanding of analytics as a decision‐craft tool grows with time and experience for most individuals, and the prevalence of more heuristic‐based decision making is still in vogue. Further, only companies of a certain size (turnover of 500 crore or more) make a concerted effort to maintain and update data necessary for efficacious use of analytics, and place this high on their priorities. Further, many ambiguities regarding the definition and scope of analytics were observed.

The sample size was not adequate to perform industry‐wise analysis though the overall trends in the use of analytics in the Indian context have been adequately represented by the data.

The paper, for the first time, offers insights into the use of analytics in India. It shows that the business world has to go a long way in terms of effective use of analytics.

In the Indian context, this is a pioneering effort.

Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.

The concept of academic library consortium emerged in the Philippines in the 1970s evidenced by the successive establishment of three consortia namely, the Academic Libraries Book Acquisition Services Association (ALBASA) in 1973, the Inter-Institutional Consortium (IIC) (now South Manila Inter-Institutional Consortium) in 1974, and the Mendiola Consortium (MC) in 1975. This paper aims to find out the experiences and status of selected academic library consortia in the Philippines, namely, the Academic Libraries Book Acquisitions Systems Association, Inc. (ALBASA), the American Corners (also known as American Studies Resource Center (ASRC) in some areas), the Aurora Boulevard Consortium Libraries, Inc. (ABC), the Davao Colleges and University Network (DACUN), the Inter University Consortium (IUC), the Intramuros Library Consortium (ILC), the Mendiola Consortium (MC), the Ortigas Center Library Consortium (OCLC), and the South Manila Inter institutional Consortium (SMI-IC) specifically in terms of the objectives of the different consortia, the activities they undertake and how such relate to the set objectives, the benefits they have enjoyed or continue to enjoy, the issues they have encountered as well as success/failure factors experienced by libraries in joining the different consortia.

The sample was derived from the review of literature, which also served as basis to come up with the list of existing academic library consortia. The respondents were selected based on the Philippine Association of Academic and Research Librarians (PAARL) directory. Communication was sent via email, telephone, scheduled personal interview and social networking sites (e.g. Facebook). A total of 13 out of 23 (56.52 percent) respondents accomplished the survey questionnaires which were distributed online and manually. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the results.

Results of the study revealed that the role academic library consortia play in the development of academic libraries is crucial particularly in the promotion of professional development and resource sharing. As technology greatly influences the way libraries do things, the varying level of technological development among consortium member libraries confirmed to be a major challenge being faced by them today. While majority of the surveyed consortia assessed themselves to be successful, it is evident that there is lack of congruence between the consortia's objectives and undertakings.

The paper is a modest contribution to the dearth of literature in Philippine academic library consortia. It also is the first study conducted measuring the success of selected academic consortia and identifying the factors contributing to their success/failure.

This practitioner's chapter explains how the establishment of a community college system in Papua New Guinea finds its champion in the country's Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare. This chapter also presents a veritable “how to” perspective on beginning a community college system by combining the vision from a government official with the contributions of a practitioner in the field such as Father Alphonse, who established the organic community college system in India. The author presents an argument in his chapter about how the union of theory and practice will combat unemployment, serve as an alternative entrance point for higher education, and will promote a responsible citizenry. The community college system in Papua New Guinea will, like in other examples in this section, endeavor to educate traditionally underserved populations, such as school leavers, rural youth, and women who are destitute.

There is talk of legislation on credit unions in the next session of Parliament. This article looks at the history and philosophy of credit unions; in a future issue we hope to have an article about the Pitney‐Bowes credit union — the first employees' credit union in this country.

This paper addresses the mutual interdependence of ethnic identity politics and conservative religious affiliation. Called “traditionalism” in this paper, conservative religious affiliation is seen to appeal most to ethnically homogenous communities who have arrived in the United States from Spanish Catholic countries and who draw on the ethnic identity conveyed by traditionalism to deliberately define themselves at a critical distance from the dominant resident culture, called “Anglo-Protestantism” in this paper.