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To provide an overview of the guidance for proxy firms and investment advisers included in the Staff Legal Bulletin released this year by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after its four-year comprehensive review of the proxy system.

Discusses briefly the context in which the SEC’s review was conducted; the general themes of the guidance provided; the most notable aspects of the guidance; and the matters that were expected to be, but were not, addressed by the SEC.

The guidance does not go as far in regulating proxy advisory firms as many had anticipated it would. The key obligations specified in the guidance are imposed on the investment advisers who engage the proxy firms. The responsibilities, policies and procedures mandated do not change the fundamental paradigm that has supported the influence of proxy firms – that is, investment advisers continue to be permitted to fulfill their duty to vote client shares in a “conflict-free manner” by voting based on the recommendations of independent third parties, and continue to be exempted from the rules that generally apply to persons who solicit votes or make proxy recommendations.

The SEC staff states in the Bulletin that it expects that proxy firms and investment advisers will conform to the obligations imposed in the Bulletin “promptly, but in any event in advance of [the 2015] proxy season.”

Practical guidance from experienced M&A lawyers.

Even those most skilled in the art of diagnosis occasionally need to be reminded that common things occur most commonly; it saves them chasing obscure signs to uncommon conclusions. Having spent several uncomfortable days in snuffling and snivelling, sneezing, streaming; sequestered with the piles of wet handkerchiefs mounting, with which we believe we have developed entirely novel and hitherto untried methods of nose‐drying; in all this, we felt the urge to write a little to those who search for uncommon things in food about that commonest of all common things—the common cold! This may not be so important after all, as there has at last been developed satisfactory culture‐techniques for the common cold viruses and cold vaccines are now distinctly probable, so that for generations unborn, the common cold may become an uncommon infection. Who knows?

Reports on a conference held in 1989 in Wisconsin, which focused on the topic of providing better access to information for people with disabilities. According to the author, the conference concentrated mainly on those with vision‐related difficulties. Summarizes two of the speeches made at the conference and examines some of the technology on display. Stresses the need for adaptive technology to enable people with a disability to access the increasing amounts of computer technology in everyday life.

This survey study among 111 teleworkers in a bank organization investigated the relationship between telework intensity and individual productivity, and whether this relationship was mediated by employees’ intrinsic motivation. Also the moderating role of office hours in the model’s associations was studied. Based on the Job Demands-Resources Model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007) and the professional isolation literature (e.g., Golden, Vega, & Dino, 2008), we developed and tested a set of hypotheses. Partly in line with expectations, we found a direct curvilinear relationship between telework intensity and individual productivity, characterized by a slight, non-significant positive association at the low telework intensity end, and a significant negative association for the high telework intensity end. Strikingly, we neither found support for a mediating role of intrinsic motivation, nor for a moderation effect of the number of office hours in the relationship between telework intensity and intrinsic motivation. However, the direct relationship between telework intensity and individual productivity appeared to be moderated by the number of office hours. It was concluded that consequences for productivity are contingent on telework intensity, and that the number of office hours has an important impact on the consequences of different telework intensities. The study’s outcomes can inform management and HR practitioners to understand how to implement and appropriately make use of telework.

The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.

The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online information and documentation work. They fall into the following categories:

An appeal under the Food and Drugs Acts, reported in the present number of the BRITISH FOOD JOURNAL, is an apt illustration of the old saying, that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. In commenting upon the case in question, the Pall Mall Gazette says: “The impression among the great unlearned that the watering of the morning's milk is a great joke is ineradicable; and there is also a common opinion among the Justice Shallows of the provincial bench that the grocer who tricks his customers into buying coffee which is 97 per cent. chicory is a clever practitioner, who ought to be allowed to make his way in the world untrammelled by legal obstructions. But the Queen's Bench have rapped the East Ham magistrates over the knuckles for convicting without fining a milkman who was prosecuted by the local authority, and the case has been sent back in order that these easygoing gentlemen may give logical effect to their convictions.”

The purpose of this paper is to review the phenomenon of moral principles as they have been adopted over time. The paper specifically reviews the Golden Rule, and the subsequently formulated Platinum Rule. While the value of both these rules is underscored, the paper also reviews their weaknesses in light of our new millennium awareness of increased globality and ensuing interconnectedness. The paper makes a statement that even moral principles that have been around for centuries, may have to be reevaluated in light of changed circumstances, and conclusively presents “The Spiritual Rule,” a principle that eliminates the risk of excessive arbitrariness, and calls for consideration of all life on earth in every decision we make.

This paper is a conceptual paper, reflecting on two existing principles that influence the way human beings, and therefore managers as well, make their decisions in general. The author first briefly reviews both principles (or “rules”), subsequently analyzes their weaknesses in light of contemporary developments, and ultimately introduces a new principle, the spiritual rule, thereby drawing on supporting statements various researchers and authors with in‐depth consideration of modern days' developments in human interaction.

When one wants to engage in “good business” in these and future days, one can no longer merely focus on a one‐on‐one perspective, or limit ourselves to the stakes of only two parties. There are greater interests at stake and there are larger groups of people involved in our decisions. Individualism has proven its merit, but so has collectivism. The awareness that is dawning upon us these days is that no extreme is of lasting benefit to all of us. A well‐considered blend of various strategies, resulting from openness to other ways of thinking, is the enlightened behavioral paradigm in and outside of the workplace.

There are many complicated theories out there about how leaders should make their decisions. However, what works best is a simple guideline that can be used in all situations and environments and that is based on the realization that human beings are first and foremost interconnected spiritual entities. This paper addresses this need and identifies the important practical considerations that leaders will need to include in their decisions.

The paper's unique contribution is to offer a moral principle that incorporates the spiritual dimension in every area of decision‐making. The three considerations presented in this paper, reduction of selfish reflections, reduction of unjust assessments of other's wishes, and reduction of harm to the welfare of our planet, are on target with the trends toward global interconnectedness and encourage leaders to consider the value of implementing and maintaining the spiritual rule.

An overview of all the elements that go into formulating a business strategy – including received wisdom from the gurus, vision and values, ideas on growth, forecasting, information, objectives, audits, customers, markets, competition, finances, structure, training – with the focus on how to make it happen. Directed at practising managers whose task this is. Making strategic plans is the easy bit; enacting them requires changing things, getting things done through people. Discusses learning, training and development, culture, quality, with the emphasis on real people in real businesses. Underpinned by the philosophy of “action learning”.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.