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Purpose – This chapter critically examines the purportedly growing phenomenon of Maternal Request Caesarean Sections (MRCS) and its relative contribution to the rising caesarean section (CS) rates.

Methodology – We apply a decentred comparative methodological approach to this problem by drawing upon and comparatively examining empirical data from Canada, the US, the UK and Finland.

Findings – We find that the general argument that has emerged within the obstetric community, evidenced in particular by a recent “State of the Science” conference, is that the reduced risks and benefits of MRCS are evenly balanced, thus ethically it could be seen as a valid choice for women. This approach, taken in particular in the North American context, negates the problematic nature of accurately measuring, and therefore assessing the importance of maternal request in addressing rising CS rates. Moreover, although some of the blame for rising CS rates has focused on MRCS, we argue that it has a relatively minor influence on rising rates. We show instead how rising CS rates can more appropriately be attributed to obstetrical policies and practices.

Originality – In presenting this argument, we challenge some of the prevailing notions of consumerism in maternity care and its influence on the practice patterns of maternity care professionals.

Practical implications – Our argument also calls into question how successful efforts to address MRCS will be in reducing CS rates given its relatively minor influence.

This discussion of recent general science reference sources is divided into two parts. In the first part general science is broadly defined. Included are sources of information published in 1978 and 1979 covering three types of reference sources: those that encompass several major areas of science and technology; those treating large interdisciplinary areas, such as energy technology and environmental science; and those that deal with speculative topics such as exobiology and science fiction. By using this broad definition it is possible to include titles which would otherwise fall between the cracks, that is, those that tend not to fit neatly into specific fields such as botany or chemistry. The second part, on the other hand, includes titles of a more general nature: those that within a single title attempt to address most of the major areas of science and technology. There were fewer titles of this kind published during 1978 and 1979, but those included in the discussion are all notable contributions to the pool of general science reference sources.

In recent years, school districts have faced numerous questions surrounding accommodations of transgender students. Strong objections to accommodations have been voiced in public argument and litigation, primarily in the areas of athletics, bathrooms, and dress codes. As younger transgender students express their gender identity at school, however, the existing objections are weakened by considering the context of elementary rather than high school students. Greater numbers of young transgender students will likely encourage accommodation of trans students of all ages, as well as challenge the gender binary unconsciously taught in school.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the value of the arts play in public spaces in replicating a contemporary commons.

The study is an exploratory investigation which uses a case study of cultural events in public parks – the Vancouver Parks Board’s fieldhouse residency program (2012-2015). The study uses content analysis of the social media sites created for these projects to identify how the sites and the cultural events were valued by stakeholders and participants.

The paper finds that, in combination, the park events and the social media discussion of them function as a form of the commons, in which new urban communities are formed or defined around specific common social interests.

The paper finds that, in combination, the park events and the reflective engagement prompted by the social media discussion of them function as a form of the commons, in which new urban communities are formed or defined around specific common social interests.

It is anticipated that cultural programs will increasingly interact with common public places.

The study supports the increased use of and recognition of public places as culturally significant.

The study aims to encourage the expansion of arts and cultural policy and programs to incorporate common public places.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the various roles of academic librarians in a particular startup university and how they embrace the “entrepreneurial spirit” by collaborating with many departments as the “embedded librarian”. The paper examines how embedded librarians can become entrepreneurs in generating new opportunities, collaborations and support within this university and through several departments. The paper also suggests how librarians can become embedded and entrepreneurial in academic librarianship.

The approach of this paper is to explore several case examples of how librarians who are embedded in a startup university demonstrate and possess the “entrepreneurial spirit” that redefine traditional roles of a librarian by opening up new opportunities for collaboration and support.

The paper finds that these case examples can serve as paradigms for other librarians to become entrepreneurs in their universities or communities; these examples also show that librarians can and must adapt to new changes whether they are economic, political, social or technological: librarians can be innovative and entrepreneurial in startup or non-startup environments.

The paper examines how librarians, particularly embedded ones in a department, can be entrepreneurs that can add tremendous value to the university and community in a way that transcends and redefines traditional roles of librarians.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the evidence for age-related changes in cognition and the implications for leadership styles. In particular, a case is argued for distributed forms of leadership that encourage contribution across the age spectrum and hierarchical levels.

This paper takes a conceptual approach, combining the psychology and management literatures in arguing the case for newer leadership forms, appropriate to an ageing workforce.

Three principal components of intelligence (fluid, and crystallised intelligence and working memory) are considered and it is argued that high levels of fluid intelligence, generally higher in younger employees, should be accessed while being balanced by crystallised intelligence (experience). Distributed leadership has been mainly applied in educational settings. This paper argues for distributed leadership to maximise creativity and innovation.

Leadership forms that maximise creative input from staff across all age levels are likely to contribute to firm innovation and sustainability. Additionally, job satisfaction and turnover among junior staff may be positively influenced through opportunities for greater participation.

The elements discussed in this paper address important leadership issues for managing a multigenerational workforce.

Distributed leadership has been discussed in educational and health literatures for some time; however it is only recently that this approach to leadership has appeared in mainstream management literature. The discussion of age-related changes and distributed leadership introduces and important topic for further research in newer forms of leadership.

The paper aims to analyze the relationships between ethical leadership (EL), job satisfaction (JS), affective commitment (AC) and turnover intention (TI) that might make accountants quit withdrawal and become productive and useful in private organizations operating in Istanbul.

Data were collected through an online survey using a simple random sampling methodology, obtained from 153 accountants working in companies in Istanbul. The methodology included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, structural equation modeling and mediation analysis.

Concerning direct relationships between EL, JS, AC and TI, EL has significant positive associations with JS and AC, whereas EL has a significant negative association with TI. JS has a significant positive association with AC, whereas JS has a significant negative association with TI. Also, AC has a weak significant negative association with TI. Given indirect relationships among EL, JS, AC and TI, JS and AC mediate the relationship between EL and TI. Finally, a similarity is found when comparing Generation X and Generation Y in terms of overall JS, AC and TI.

The study is limited solely to companies functioning in Istanbul and incorporates a low number of respondents. Therefore, the results cannot be considered to be accurate for the whole country. The study might guide both private and public organizations in which owners/managers develop strategic plans.

The study fills the gap in research on organizational behavior where little has existed until now that probes the EL–JS–AC–TI links in Turkey. A few studies measure the TIs of accountants. Furthermore, EL and AC are rarely evaluated in the field of accounting in Turkey.

Based on the literature of IT strategic alignment and e-collaboration, the purpose of this paper is to specify how e-business strategic alignment (e-alignment) influences e-collaboration capabilities and improves firm performance, and whether the time-lag effect existed in this relationship.

The authors tested the research hypotheses using a field survey of 145 Chinese corporations. The research model was validated using SmartPLS 2.0 with both subjective and objective data collected from the survey and Oriana database.

The results support the notion of a positive and significant link between e-alignment and e-collaboration capabilities and between e-collaboration capabilities and firm performance. The authors also show that the effect of e-alignment on performance is fully mediated by e-collaboration capabilities and that e-collaboration with suppliers has a one-year time-lag effect on firm performance.

This research extends and integrates the literature on IT strategic alignment and e-collaboration, and explains why and how e-alignment generates firm performance.

This paper includes two implications for managers. First, when formulating e-business strategies, managers should focus on establishing e-collaboration capabilities with partners. Second, the downstream process is the direct sources of business value. Managers should take the establishment of e-selling process as a critical business strategy.

By focussed on intermediate factors and time-lag effects, this study provides significant implications for IT strategic alignment and e-collaboration literature.