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The work of local enterprise agencies in the UK and the important role which an effective training programme can make to their continued development is assessed. Important changes have occurred since their initial formation and future changes can be anticipated. Training is therefore required to ensure that agencies remain capable of providing a professional support service. A study covering all agencies in North‐west England of the training needs identified by agency directors is analysed. It stems from an 18‐month project funded by the Training Agency as a Local Development Project with participation from businesses in the community and the agencies themselves. The difficulties involved in defining training needs are considered, in particular the problem of accurately relating training to agency performance and the problems of delivery in the light of the structure and nature of the agencies.

“Library,” as a place, will give way to “library” as a transparent knowledge network providing “intelligent” services to business and education through both specialized librarians and emerging information technologies. Libraries will rely heavily on computers and peripherals to facilitate electronic document imaging, publishing, telecommunications, and information delivery in addition to networked collection management and reference services.

We highlight key assumptions implicit in the models used by academics conducting research on market efficiency. Most notably, many academics assume that investors can borrow unlimited amounts and construct long-short portfolios at zero cost. We relax these assumptions and examine the attractiveness of long-short strategies as stand-alone investments and as a part of a diversified portfolio. Our analysis illustrates that the key benefit of long-short investing is adding diversification to a portfolio beyond what the market provides. We show that as stand-alone investments, nontrivial risk remains in the “hedge” strategies and that the returns generally do not beat the market in a head-to-head contest. Our findings raise questions about the degree of inefficiency in anomaly studies because plausible measures of costs generally offset strategy returns. The ability to achieve greater diversification may be, but is not necessarily, due to market inefficiency. We also highlight the key role of the generally ignored but critically important short interest rebate and show that absent this rebate, the long-short strategies we examine generally yield insignificant returns.

The aim of this paper is to report on preliminary research conducted in seven sustainable hospitality and tourism operations set in developing economies which use the principles of social entrepreneurship. The applicability of community-based social entrepreneurial management systems as a means of fostering socio-economic development is analysed.

Online contacts were first made with the selected destinations, who were asked to supply written reports on selected criteria. Purposive sampling was employed, whereby the criteria chosen for analysis were based on characteristics believed to be representative. Analysis of the reports was based on the meaning of words, in particular, in finding commonalities and differences in themes approached by each respondent.

Preliminary conclusions show that the positive effects of employing local indigenous people in these projects far outweigh some negative aspects. Employment possibilities leading to improved living standards have resulted in each case. Local cultural traditions have been maintained and only in a few cases were examples of the negative effects of tourism reported.

The findings of this research are limited to a small selection of community-based social entrepreneurial hospitality and tourism projects in developing economies, thus, cannot be applied to similar projects in developed economies, where social and economic factors are considerably different.

In developing economies, social entrepreneurs can draw on the success of the projects analysed in this paper for the creation of new, similar ventures. In developed economies, hospitality and tourism businesses wishing to pursue a more socially caring form of development can gain inspiration.

The main aim of this paper is to introduce the articles of this issue.

A critical content analysis of the papers selected for the issue was undertaken.

The final articles for this issue examine a range of responsible business practices within hospitality and tourism businesses in diverse country settings. In addition, each article is followed by a commentary from an industry representative who reflects on the key message and/or value of the article for industry practice.

Although only one article examined the role of education specifically, collectively the articles in this special theme edition point to the critical role of education in implementing responsible business practices in the near future, as well as for ensuring the sustainability of these practices in the years to come. Additionally, these articles highlight the need for greater cooperation between different hospitality and tourism stakeholders in the development and implementation of responsible business practices.

The current theme issue explores emerging issues in the implementation of responsible business practice in the context of hospitality and tourism industries in different country contexts.

The main aim of this paper is to critically review the contribution made by this theme issue to the literature by examining the implementation of responsible business practice.

Based on the theme issue, a critical content analysis of the papers selected for the issue was undertaken.

The summary paper generally highlights the themes emerging from the papers selected for this issue. These are the socio-economic and cultural barriers to implementation, conditions needed for successful implementation and the role of education in the implementation of responsible business practice.

The hospitality and tourism enterprises considered in this theme issue operate in a range of contexts and offer a range of practice. Other enterprises in other contexts may also provide insights to the implementation of responsible business practice.

The current theme issue explores emerging issues in the implementation of responsible business practice which highlights the need for further research in this area.

In September 1996, Fleet Financial Group and the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute undertook a one‐year pilot project addressing a “dual agenda” – reexamining work processes to achieve positive business outcomes while also helping employees better integrate work responsibilities with life outside of work. The chosen sites for the experiments were a retail/small business banking unit and a portfolio management unit. Radcliffe‐Fleet Project researchers employed two key methods: dual context and action research. Using this methodology, interventions and measures of success of the interventions were developed collaboratively with management and employees. Even in these competitive, deadline‐driven work environments, quantitative measures and qualitative assessments at each site showed a positive relationship between business outcomes and quality of life outcomes. The researchers develop guidelines for companies interested in replication of this project. Several principles are also identified for sustaining the success of effective work‐life integration interventions and institutionalizing the “dual agenda” in the workplace.

The digital economy, which heralds the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4), is upon us. What can history teach international business scholars about how firms are likely to respond to this new form of technological change? Who are the likely winners or the likely losers? For 30 years, the author has lived through, studied, and written about the Third Industrial Revolution and other major environmental shocks, ranging from new entrants to academia to regional integration to outbreak of war, looking at the fundamental issues of how individuals, firms, communities, and countries respond to and are affected by life-changing events. In this chapter, the author tells seven brief stories about living through and studying “shocks and responses.” Perhaps, some of these stories may provide useful lessons to the scholars of IR4.