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Organizations are increasingly relying on Internet searches and social networking websites to uncover detailed and private information about job applicants. Such Internet screening techniques have the potential to provide additional information beyond that found using traditional screening approaches. However, questions regarding the legality and appropriateness of this practice, as well as issues regarding the standardization, reliability, and validity of the information obtained, need to be addressed. The current work describes these issues associated with Internet screening and provides recommendations to help ensure this practice is used appropriately in organizations. Suggestions for future research on Internet screening are also discussed.

The bulk of research in international exchange has adopted an exporter perspective. In contrast, the work reported here incorporates the importer side of the dyad. The research used an extensive multiple case study design involving 36 exporter‐importer dyads operating across four countries. The main search criteria used by importers are identified along with those areas where the perception and performance of exporters were most at variance with those being used by the importers. Field research also pointed to a marked age‐related cyclical effect in dyad performance. In addition, the best performing dyads were those in which close relationships were maintained among the people on either side, an aspect that could have been more carefully managed by some of the exporters.

PurposeDaniel Defoe, best known as the author of Robinson Crusoe, was also an early entrepreneur who late in his life published a business text called The Complete English Tradesman. The purpose of this paper is to argue that The Complete English Tradesman should be given renewed consideration as an early predecessor to the great works in management literature.Design/methodology/approachThe paper compares the content found in The Complete English Tradesman with topics and content typically found in modern small business management texts.FindingsThe paper finds considerable overlap between Defoe's advice and modern small business management principles. Besides the overall relevant content, the paper also finds unique insights offered by Defoe that could be applied by the modern small business entrepreneur. The paper presents possible reasons why Defoe's work is not widely known today.Research limitations/implicationsDefoe's work may be reflective of the general eighteenth‐century entrepreneurial climate. There may be other related sources of interest, as well as potential parallels between the eighteenth‐century climate and the modern entrepreneurial environment.Practical implicationsA timeless core set of actions may be essential for entrepreneurial success.Originality/valueThis is the first research to compare Defoe's work explicitly with modern small business management theory or practice.

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