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Describes the development of a quality assurance system in a residential home for the elderly mentally infirm, and its registration under ISO 9000/BS 5750. The two prime objectives of the project were to demonstrate the applicability of the ISO 9000 model to human care services, and to integrate the systematic approach of quality assurance with the human‐centred concepts of a total quality culture. The quality assurance system was developed primarily by the home′s own staff, beginning with their definition of residents′ requirements of the service. Discusses the methods of defining outcome measures, of designing the system, of developing it and of implementing it, together with the difficulties encountered, and the impact of the project on team spirit and on the quality of the service.

The authors are the Officer in Charge and one of the Care Officers of a local authority residential home for the elderly mentally infirm. Describes the staff′s experience in designing and implementing a quality assurance system under ISO 9000. Looks at the way in which the project was tackled, and the resulting benefits to the residents, the staff team, and the overall atmosphere of the home.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Most years, several AIB members are elected as AIB Fellows on account of their excellent international business scholarship, and/or past service as AIB President or Executive Secretary. The Fellows are in charge of electing Eminent Scholars as well as the International Executive and International Educator (formerly, Dean) of the Year, who often provide the focus for Plenary Sessions at AIB Conferences. Their history since 1975 covers over half of the span of the AIB and reflects many issues that dominated that period in terms of research themes, progresses and problems, the internationalization of business education and the role of international business in society and around the globe. Like other organizations, the Fellows Group had their ups and downs, successes and failures – and some fun too!

Aims to show how robots can be used to prototype and prove key handling operations during the design of food processing machines. This can reduce both development time and costs.

A number of examples of the use of robots during the design of food processing machinery are presented in the areas of product handling, product manipulation and product packing. In each example simple grippers were mounted to robots allowing complex manipulations to be performed and rapidly tested allowing a favourite to identified.

Finds that robot prototyping and proving allows mechanisms to be assessed rapidly and at low cost and reduces the number of design modifications needed before final production.

Provides examples of how the technique can be used in all stages of food production, particularly the grasping of products considered difficult to handle.

Provides a method of reducing the development cost of new food processing machinery and allow key operations to be proved without the need to construct full prototype machines.

Introduces the concept of using robots to prototype and prove operations found within food processing machinery. The paper is of value to both researches investigating the handling of food products and manufacturers of automation for the food industry.

This chapter complements the one that appeared as “History of the AIB Fellows: 1975–2008” in Volume 14 of this series (International Business Scholarship: AIB Fellows on the First 50 Years and Beyond, Jean J. Boddewyn, Editor). It traces what happened under the deanship of Alan Rugman (2011–2014) who took many initiatives reported here while his death in July 2014 generated trenchant, funny, and loving comments from more than half of the AIB Fellows. The lives and contributions of many other major international business scholars who passed away from 2008 to 2014 are also evoked here: Endel Kolde, Lee Nehrt, Howard Perlmutter, Stefan Robock, John Ryans, Vern Terpstra, and Daniel Van Den Bulcke.

There are seven main characters of which five are women: Sindiswa, Mia, Susan, Thenjiwe and Nicky. The other two characters, Glen and Zaccaria, represent males from very different socio-economic and political backgrounds. The character of Dumasani, a young boy, is referred to in the play. What makes the play especially significant is that of a cast of seven, five are women. Throughout the play the character of Glen, a spy for the apartheid government, reveals the manipulative and deceitful manner in which the members of the South African police force and political informers carried out their work. He forms relationships with people about whom he professes to care; however, his only concern is that they are able to provide information that will secure financial reward for his spying activities for the apartheid government. Born in the RSA offers the audience an interesting exchange of ideas and thoughts about the political, economic and social situation in apartheid South Africa. Through the exploration of narratives and improvisation a landscape of violence is thrown open. A landscape of violence, that is not only physical, but also psychological. The play presents a complex situation in which violence does not only come from one source but from various sources such as the government, the youth, the opposition parties, the comrades, the private domestic space, subversive activities and political organisations. Any opposition to government policies results in harsher and more extreme violence by the apartheid regime strengthening their oppressive forces.

This study examines the long-term link between fair valuation uncertainty and discounts/premia in closed-end funds. This study argues that, in exploring the close-end funds puzzle, prior research generally omits to consider the uncertainty surrounding the measurement of funds' financial disclosure, as reflected in the fair value hierarchy, when investment specialty differs across funds.

Regressions were employed to explore how the fair value hierarchy affects closed-end funds' discounts/premia when investment specialty differs. The authors also examine the effects pre- and post-2012 to explore if that relationship changes due to the additional disclosure requirements enacted at the end of 2011.

The authors find that the three levels of the fair value hierarchy have effects that vary according to a fund's specialty. For equity specialized funds, Level 3 significantly increases discounts and decreases premia, suggesting the impact of valuation uncertainty that underlies Level 3 estimates; this relationship disappears (decreases in severity) for premia (discount) experiencing funds post-2012. In contrast, Level 1 and Level 2 do not have any significant effect on discounts or premia except that post-2012, Level 2 begins to display discount decreasing effects. For bond specialized funds, no significant association was noted between premia and any of the fair value levels except that post-2012, Level 3 begins to display premium increasing effects. However, results are different for discounts. The authors note that Level 1 valuations significantly increase discounts, but only post-2012; Level 2 valuations significantly decrease discounts (pre- and post-2012), consistent with such estimates incorporating unique and relevant information; and Level 3 valuations do not have a significant effect on discounts.

The results of this study revisit prior evidence and indicate that results about the effects of fair value measurement and the closed-end funds' puzzle are sensitive to the period length being considered and the investment specialty of the fund. The authors also note that additional disclosure regarding Level 3 valuation inputs decreases market concern for valuation uncertainty and increases the liquidity benefits of investing in Level 3 carrying funds.

Although it is well established in the academic literature that entrepreneurs share common traits, there has been limited research dedicated to evaluating psychographic profiles of the self-employed. Using the Nominal Group Technique, the authors gleaned insight from a panel of experts in an effort to segment the self-employed based on personality traits and the benefits they receive from an entrepreneurial career. The findings show that self-employed individuals can be classified into four distinct segments: Exemplars, Generals, Moms and Dads, and Altruists. Each group derives different benefits from self-employment. Understanding these benefits can greatly assist entrepreneurship educators and marketers of small business oriented products and services.