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This study examined escape rooms as a teaching strategy for developing four leadership competencies associated with communication. The results indicate that escape rooms are an effective teaching strategy for communication competency development in leadership education. One hundred and five participants engaged in an escape room experience followed by a discussion focused on the competencies. The findings indicated a significant positive change from pre-test to post-test in all four student leadership competencies measured, including verbal communication, listening, advocating for a point of view, and conflict negotiation. Leadership educators should consider escape rooms as a pedagogical tool for competency development and may wish to explore alternative serious games to align with their learning objectives.

Construction is possibly one of the most cost orientated industries in any economy. The primary mode of supplier selection has always tended to be on the basis of lowest material or service cost at point of consumption. Indeed, this remains the case even in the post‐Latham (1994) and Egan (1998) world in which we live. In general, construction cost estimates are based on a straight ‘take off’ of the quantities required. All further ‘other’ costs in the form of overhead, profit, labour and wastage are consolidated into the cost of the materials. Construction is unique within the various industries making up a modern economy in that the bulk of the materials and components that it uses are of relatively low value while being of high volume. Consequently, a significant proportion of the ‘other’ costs associated with materials purchases must be in the form of transportation from the point of extraction and / or production to the point of consumption. This paper provides an overview of the hidden costs associated with the transportation of construction materials within the industry and proposes improved methods of managing the logistics of the construction process e.g. reverse logistics, in order to reduce costs and increase the basic sustainability of the construction process.

It is widely understood that distinctive leadership programs must engage in assessment, and intentional program improvement practices. Design thinking can serve as one student-centered tool that engages students in the assessment process, while looping feedback into substantive programmatic changes. This paper explores the use of this innovative practice to enhance a co-curricular leadership program at a large university in the Southeastern United States. Practitioners found that design thinking was a useful supplemental assessment tool that led to positive programmatic changes that were focused on students’ needs.

This paper explains how the capital proposals of large experienced clients of the UK construction industry are influenced by paradigms and perspectives. It shows how those involved in the decision‐to‐build process react to stimuli caused by a need to demonstrate objective decision‐making. The paper is taken from a 5‐year PhD study undertaken by the first author, which investigated the origins of the decision to build undertaken by leading clients. The clients sampled had a total annual construction budget of between £700 million and £1000 million in the year that data were collected. The product of the research was an explanation of what happens in the pre‐project stage, why it happens, and why it will change in the future. The significance of its conclusions is that any system designed to model or improve decision‐making in the pre‐project stage must be capable of adaptation and modification as influences and considerations shift. Moreover, the need to justify decisions as ‘objective’ empowers paradigms and perspectives that act as conditioning influences on the people making or shaping proposals. The paper concludes by showing that an understanding of the role played by paradigms and perspectives could allow management to ‘rethink construction’ and meet the challenges put forward by Sir John Egan (The Egan Report: Rethinking Construction, DETR, 1998).

The enormous danger of enemy influence in regard to the control and management of the food supply of the country and the great evils attributable to this cause justify us in reproducing the following able article by MR. RONALD MCNEILL, M.P., from the Evening Standard of October 26th:—

The concept of company culture is now playing an ever‐increasing role in the continuing endeavour to work towards ever better company management, particularly in the industrial field. This monograph reviews the history and development of both national and company cultures, and then goes on to demonstrate the significance of a culture to proper company management. Well‐managed companies will have both a “quality culture” and a “safety culture” as well as a cultural history. However, it has to be recognised that the company culture is subject to change, and effecting this can be very difficult. Of the many national cultures, that of Japan is considered to be the most effective, as is demonstrated by the present dominance of Japan on the industrial scene. Many industrialised nations now seek to emulate the Japanese style of management, but it is not possible to copy or acquire Japan′s cultural heritage. The text is illustrated by a large number of practical examples from real life, illustrating the way in which the company culture works and can be used by management to improve company performance.

Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).

Limited research exists that assesses the transfer of leadership learning from an undergraduate leadership program into alumni work environments. This study explored alumni’ valuation of an undergraduate leadership program by gaining an understanding of what leadership learning and leadership behaviors transferred into work environments. The participants were alumni that graduated from the same university in the southeastern United States, and while enrolled completed a four-year, co-curricular leadership program. Eight participant alumni engaged in semi-structured interviews as well as completed the Leadership Practices Inventory. The findings indicated that specific leadership learning did effectively transfer to work environments, and program alumni were frequently engaged in the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership at work to some degree. When developing leadership programs, practitioners may consider incorporating similar programmatic attributes and leadership learning deemed valuable by program alumni.

The construction industry in the UK has been subject to frequent reports over recent years, all focusing on perceived inefficiencies within the industry and how processes can be improved to deliver construction projects on time, and within cost and quality targets. Most notable of these reports have been Latham (1994) and Egan (1998), which contend that construction should come closer to manufacturing in design, development and supply chain practices to achieve ambitious improvement targets. The most frequently mentioned industries for such “benchmarking” are the aerospace and automotive industries. Concurrent Engineering (CE) appears to offer significant potential to the construction industry as a means to achieve these targets. This paper identifies key aspects of CE practice in aerospace manufacturers and, in the spirit of the Egan report, possibilities for their adoption in UK construction projects.