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This study expands the performance management literature by developing a strategy map and balanced scorecard (BSC) for a large performing arts theater (PAT).

First, interviews with significant stakeholders identify key success factors (KSFs). Next, a survey is administered, and a structural model is employed to determine the importance of each KSF and their interdependent causal relationships within the PAT. Each KSF's controllability and room for improvement are also measured to facilitate implementation strategies.

The results reveal that the Financial Perspective plays a critical role in the PAT's success, while significant changes can be enacted by focusing on the Internal Processes Perspective. Regarding the individual KSF, the following emerge as the most critical: excellent reputation, attendance growth, increasing sponsorship and donation, and supporting the local arts community; however, PAT managers will have to be creative to enact change through these KSF as some are difficult to control or have little perceived room for improvement.

The data were collected prior to, or at the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Post-pandemic priorities for the organization may have changed.

By highlighting the relationships between different KSFs, this study provides PAT managers with a frame of reference for developing their BSC and performance metrics. It also offers PAT's managers a structured and adaptable approach for prioritizing their strategic choices and developing implementation plans for improved outcomes.

This study exemplifies the need for applied BSC studies in various sectors, including nonprofit organizations. Specifically, this study extends the performance management literature by providing an example of a large PAT's performance measures, the inter-relationships among KSF and the resulting strategy map. The results are significant because arts management is a unique discipline based upon a specific body of knowledge (Weinstein and Bukovinsky, 2009).

The value of allowing children to experience frequently the sheer pleasure of good children's literature has long been acknowledged. For at least the past twenty‐five years, educational researchers and faculty members in schools of education and library science have advocated the use of children's literature in the elementary school curriculum.

The purpose of this paper is to address issues related to strategic management in Australia and China, to compare similarities and differences across two countries.

Data were collected from structured surveys and interviews amongst managers undertaking Master of Business Administration study in China and Australia.

The research suggests that there is much to be done in enhancing strategic management. The poor positioning of both Chinese and Australian businesses indicates the need for new public policies and debate. Some directions might include encouragement of exports, rethinking and refining bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, e.g. the current FTA being negotiated between Australia and the USA appears to be based on political considerations more than economic. At national, regional and local levels there is a requirement for industry policy and systematic implementation. Small to medium enterprises need encouragement to operate strategically, with passion and commitment, for the benefit of the enterprise and the nation. Promoting and sharing good practice is one effective way to achieve this. In China, the issues are very similar. Local and regional governments in particular have enormous influence in shaping economic policy and business regulation. The new national policy agenda towards “green DP” rather than the more narrow GDP is another indicator of the need for renewed effort to broaden the strategic management agenda at national and international level in China. The full entry into WTO further underlines the importance of this requirement, particularly the need for a triple bottom line strategic approach.

This paper uses management survey data to offer a useful auditing mechanism and a mirror to existing practices and performance in both China and Australia.

The study described in this paper aims to identify the progress made in the efforts to model current online public access catalogs (OPACs) after the next generation catalog (NGC) in academic libraries in the USA and Canada.

A random sample of 260 colleges and universities was selected from Peterson's Guide to Four‐Year Colleges 2009, an estimated 10 percent of the total population of 2,560 listed academic institutions. A checklist of 12 features of the NGC was used to evaluate the OPACs of the 260 libraries in the sample. The authors took as the OPAC that which the library linked to as its “catalog,” even though some might be more properly considered “discovery tools” or “discovery layers.” Some libraries used more than one OPAC interface simultaneously; in this case, each OPAC was analyzed separately. In the case of several institutions using the same consortial OPAC, only the first instance of the OPAC was analyzed. About 15 percent of the institutions (n=40) in the sample either did not have web sites or did not provide access to their online catalogs. In all, a total of 233 unique instances of OPACs were analyzed. Data were collected from September 2009 through July 2010. The findings can be extrapolated to the population at the 95 percent confidence level with a confidence interval of ±3.

While bits and pieces of the next generation catalog are steadily working themselves into the current catalog, academic libraries still have a long way to go. About 16 percent of the OPACs in the sample did not show any advanced features of the NGC. More than half of the libraries (61 percent) had only one to five advanced features in their OPACs. Many of those with six or more NGC features were discovery tools. Only 3 percent of the OPACs in the sample (n=8) demonstrated seven to ten out of the 12 functionalities of the NGC, and they were instances either of WorldCat Local or Summon. The weak areas were federated searching, relevance based on circulation statistics, and recommendations based on patron transactions.

This is the first and only study on a large scale conducted thus far that evaluates the progress towards the NGC in academic libraries in the USA and Canada. The findings help academic librarians to recognize and pin‐point the weak links in implementing a true next generation catalog.

This paper aims to provide a review of the challenges facing the reform of SOEs, and to address the impacts of SOE reform on business executives, on the base of literature review and empirical data collected in Guangzhou, China.

A qualitative research on the base of literature review, supported by empirical data collected from surveys, interviews, and focus group discussion.

Although China has made significant achievement in economic reform and the transition into a market system and civil society since 1978, there are still fundamental challenges associated with the reform of state owned enterprises (SOEs). It seems that privatisation will not necessarily solve the complex problems associated with SOEs. This paper suggests that a balanced approach reflecting the best of SOE provision and triple bottom line management appears to provide the best way forward for continuing prosperity in China. The current direction of SOE reform seems to have been driven by privatisation and economic rationalism, rather than a more balanced economic and social strategy. If this trend continues, the challenges for business executives, and the general society, can be overwhelming, and not lead to a more sustainable economy, let alone society, in the medium to long term.

Reform of SOEs has impacted on China fundamentally. Against the common view that business managers are the social group that is benefiting from SOE reform, this paper focuses on factors affecting the economic and social status of business executives, especially the challenges associated with the reform of SOEs. Supported by primary and secondary data sources, it draws attention to the situation that although the economic and social status of business executives continues to rise in China, insecurity and stress on business executives are growing. Reforms associated with changing SOEs are viewed as possible sources of challenges facing the Chinese economy and business life. Current SOE reform seems to have focused on the economic bottom line. A more balanced approach in the reform of SOEs is suggested for a more sustainable economy and society.

This discussion asks why women leaders are, at the beginning of the twenty‐first century, as scarce in the corporate boardrooms and university corridors as they were 30 years ago. After nearly three decades of legislative and organisational support for more gender equity and inclusive management practices, the illusive glass ceiling still remains an issue for management policy debate.

In this discussion the culture of work in the new economy is discussed.

It seems that the feminist approach calling for equity in public life has lost its currency as new management restructures and workplace changes are again “gender inflicted”.

In the final analysis more research is required where successful women leaders are positioned centre stage so that they stay in the mainstream of paid work and public life, not in the margins.

This paper aims to determine the current usage of next generation online public access catalogs (OPACs) and discovery tools in academic libraries in the USA and Canada.

Using the same random sample of 260 colleges and universities in the USA and Canada from their original study, the authors revisited each institution's library web page to ascertain whether the OPAC interface(s) offered were the same or different than in their initial data collection. Data was collected and analyzed in October and November 2011.

Discovery tool use has practically doubled in the last two years, from 16 percent to 29 percent. A total of 96 percent of academic libraries using discovery tools still provide access to their legacy catalog. The percentage of institutions using ILS OPACs with faceted navigation has increased from 2 percent to 4 percent. Combining the use of discovery tools and faceted OPACs, at least 33 percent of academic libraries are now using a faceted interface. Discovery tools that aim to be the “single point of entry for all library resources” are the most recently popular.

About 16 percent of the institutions (n=43) in the sample either did not have web sites or did not provide access to their online catalogs. Thus, some data might be underreported.

The findings identify trends that may inform academic libraries in the quest to providing next generation interfaces to their varied resources.

This study gives a timely update of next generation catalog (NGC) and discovery tool usage in academic libraries in the USA and Canada.

The purpose of this paper is to see whether ethical and sustainable corporate strategy is not just an “add on” for good community relationships and publicity, and whether companies across the globe are approaching sustainability differently.

This paper is based on the assumption that company publications reflect the principle and philosophy of its business approach.

The paper identifies stark differences in global sustainability practice, with the USA, in particular, falling behind in terms of sustainability leadership, compared with similar organisations in both the European Union and the Asia Pacific region.

This paper implies that US multinationals need to improve their sustainability practice and to begin to think in terms of triple bottom line management, ethical standards and governance.

This paper implies that corporations need more effort in developing and managing ethics and sustainability as part of their competitive advantage and corporate strategy.

The original contribution of this paper is that it provides valuable insights into how different organisations are in reality putting sustainability first.

VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library housekeeping processes, principally in the UK. It is edited and substantially written by Tony McSean, Information Officer for Library Automation based in Southampton University Library and supported by a grant from the British Library Research and Development Department. Copyright for VINE articles rests with the British Library Board, but opinions expressed in VINE do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the British Library. The subscription to VINE is £10 per year and the subscription period runs from January to December.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of assortment size and attribute quantity on the depth and content of consumer information searches.

For a computer-aided experiment using an information display board, participants (n = 393) were placed in a simulated shopping situation that involved choosing a product among three sets of frequently purchased, low-involvement, FMCG alternatives.

The findings show that when the assortment size increases, consumers acquire information from more products and cues but sacrifice product attributes. In particular, this sacrifice comes at the expense of secondary product attributes (e.g. nutrition information, country of origin), whereas primary product attributes (e.g. brand name, price) remain constant. Attribute quantity does not have a significant effect on information search.

Provided that several strategies rely on providing more information to consumers with the aim of making more deliberate and better choices, the findings suggest that they may have a limited effect in product categories in which the assortment size is wide. The authors discuss the implications for category management and public policy.

Information searches are measured by means of three different variables (searched cues, searched products and searched attributes), which enable a more complex exploration of the consumer information search process.