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Urban design professionals face the challenge of creating responsive human settlements amidst complex, ever-evolving interactions between numerous factors, which makes each project a “wicked problem,” requiring designers with specific skills to solve them effectively. This paper explores how integrating “Living Labs” and “Learning Playing techniques” equips urban design students with the needed competencies to address these challenges.

The research employed a literature review focusing on urban design theories related to “wicked problems,” design thinking and soft skills. Through this review, the authors developed the “Urban Design Thinking Soft Skills (UDTS) matrix” and identified pedagogical approaches using Living Labs and Learning Playing Techniques. An award-winning community design studio at Cairo University served as a case study to test and validate the UDTS matrix. Interviews were conducted to further investigate the effectiveness of incorporating these approaches.

The study found that integrating Living Labs principles and Learning Playing Techniques (termed “Joyful Living Labs” in this context) are effective pedagogical methods. Interviews provided evidence supporting their value within urban design curricula for the Egyptian context.

This paper proposes the UDTS matrix as a framework to equip students with the necessary soft skills for tackling complex urban design challenges. Furthermore, it introduces the concept of “Joyful Living Labs” as a potential pedagogical approach specifically suited for the Egyptian context.

To cope successfully with the pressures imposed by a devastating pandemic and other challenges, companies and policymakers need to look at how they conceptualize, define, measure and operationalize “value”. This paper aims to support this conversation.

This study presents a historical review of how the value construct has been conceptualized over time, demonstrating that its history is one of tension and debate with conceptualizations swinging between objective (i.e. the value of something exists independent of the observers) and subjective (i.e. the value of something depends on the personal response of the observer to what is being considered) views over time.

This paper outlines the implications to researchers of value’s low construct clarity, offering suggestions designed to exploit rather than ignore the duality of the value construct. Instead of thinking of the value construct as being subjective or objective, this study recommends that scholars consider value’s objectivity and subjectivity as being interrelated and complementary. The paper recommends that researchers use both quantitative and qualitative methodologies in studying this construct.

A major limitation of this paper is the word count limitation restricting the extent to which this paper could explore a more comprehensive list of the conceptualizations of value throughout history.

This paper presents practitioners with a nuanced understanding of value that should assist those interested in examining the worth of investments with observable expenses but less quantifiable outputs.

The authors have not found a similar analysis of the various conceptualizations of value.

In general, it is believed that firms belonging to the high technological intensity stratum have a more innovation capability. However, evidence has begun to appear in the literature demonstrating that firms in the low-tech stratum also have the innovation capability. This paper seeks to solve this dilemma. Through an analysis of industrial firms in an emerging country, this study aims to identify the existence of innovation capability in all strata of technological intensity.

The authors empirically assessed the impact of innovation capability on the performance of firms in all strata of technological intensity. The authors studied a sample of 910 firms from different industries and technology intensities operating in Peru, by applying a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM).

This study obtained three important findings. First, the authors show that innovation capability is present in all strata of technological intensity. Second, innovation capability differs according to the technological stratum. Third, firms in the lowest technological stratum can use more capabilities than those in the other strata.

This study pioneers the empirical analysis of innovation capability and technological intensity simultaneously to verify that innovation capability exists in the four strata of technological intensity.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the perceived firm ethicality and loyalty behaviour of consumers through the lens of corporate social responsibility (CSR), green brand innovativeness (GBI) and green marketing (GM).

The authors used questionnaires as a primary method of data collection. The authors selected four large malls in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia and three large malls in Surabaya, the second-largest city in the country. These locations were chosen due to their high levels of consumer activity and the presence of numerous products from major companies.

The findings provide strong support for all proposed hypotheses, confirming that perceived firm ethicality plays a crucial role in significantly enhancing brand loyalty. This positive relationship however is mediated through distinct pathways, namely CSR, GBI and GM. Each of these factors contributes meaningfully to shaping consumer perceptions of a firm’s ethicality, which in turn drives greater loyalty to the brand. Collectively, these strategies synergise to amplify a firm’s perceived ethicality, further solidifying brand loyalty. Notably, CSR, perceived firm ethicality, GBI and GM together account for approximately 65.2% of the variance in customer brand loyalty.

The study offers important theoretical insights into attachment theory by extending it to consumer-brand relationships, demonstrating that perceived firm ethicality fosters emotional attachment, which enhances brand loyalty. Just as secure attachment in human relationships builds trust and loyalty, consumers develop emotional bonds with brands they perceive as ethical, supported by CSR practices, GBI and GM from the firms. These strategies reinforce consumer trust and loyalty, paralleling attachment theory’s secure base concept.

This paper investigates the relationship between prior planning and the practical adaptation and improvisation conducted by organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic through a qualitative case study of Norwegian Public Health Institutions.

This paper draws on a unique set of qualitative data, interviews and field observations, gathered from organizations during an ongoing crisis. Through this access it becomes possible to examine how organizations practically navigated the complex relationship between structured plans and the situational, short term forms of crisis communication.

The paper finds that prior plans played a key role as points of reference, and as a prior set of principles that could be drawn on during a crisis. Organizations did however have to adapt and respond to the crisis in ways that could not have been designed in advance. In order to do so employees would deliberate and discuss in search of a fitting response that could help them in reaching their goals.

The paper builds on prior work that has discussed limitations and challenges to planning and linear approaches in crisis communication and strategic communication, but provides empirical insight into how members of organizations navigate this work in practice. By employing theories from rhetoric it provides a framework for the further study of crisis communication as a practical ongoing activity, and provides some suggested implications for how organizations can prepare increase crisis preparedness.

This study proposes a novel method utilising a speech-word pair bipartite network to examine the correlation structure between members of parliament (MPs) in the context of the UK- China relationship.

We construct MP-word pair bipartite networks based on the co-occurrence relationship between MPs and words in their speech content. These networks are then mapped into monopartite MPs correlation networks. Additionally, the study calculates correlation network indicators and identifies MP communities and factions to determine the characteristics of MPs and their interrelation in the UK-China relationship. This includes insights into the distribution of key MPs, their correlation structure and the evolution and development trends of MP factions.

Analysis of the parliamentary speeches on China-related affairs in the British Parliament from 2011 to 2020 reveals that the distribution and interrelationship of MPs engaged in UK-China affairs are centralised and discrete, with a few core MPs playing an integral role in the UK-China relationship. Among them, MPs such as Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, David Cameron, Lord Hunt of Chesterton and Lord Howell of Guildford formed factions with significant differences; however, the continuity of their evolution exhibits unstableness. The core MP factions, such as those led by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and David Cameron, have achieved a level of maturity and exert significant influence.

The research has several limitations that warrant acknowledgement. First, we mapped the MP-word pair bipartite network into the MP correlation network for analysis without directly analysing the structure of MPs based on the bipartite network. In future studies, we aim to explore various types of analysis based on the proposed bipartite networks to provide more comprehensive and accurate references for studying UK-China relations. In addition, we seek to incorporate semantic-level analyses, such as sentiment analysis of MPs, into the MP-word -pair bipartite networks for in-depth analysis. Second, the interpretations of MP structures in the UK-China relationship in this study are limited. Consequently, expertise in UK-China relations should be incorporated to enhance the study and provide more practical recommendations.

Firstly, the findings can contribute to an objective understanding of the characteristics and connotations of UK-China relations, thereby informing adjustments of focus accordingly. The identification of the main factions in the UK-China relationship emphasises the imperative for governments to pay greater attention to these MPs’ speeches and social relationships. Secondly, examining the evolution and development of MP factions aids in identifying a country’s diplomatic focus during different periods. This can assist governments in responding promptly to relevant issues and contribute to the formulation of effective foreign policies.

First, this study expands the research methodology of parliamentary debates analysis in previous studies. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study the UK-China relationship through the MP-word-pair bipartite network. This outcome inspires future researchers to apply various knowledge networks in the LIS field to elucidate deeper characteristics and connotations of UK-China relations. Second, this study provides a novel perspective for UK-China relationship analysis, which deepens the research object from keywords to MPs. This finding may offer important implications for researchers to further study the role of MPs in the UK-China relationship.

This study proposes a novel scheme for analysing the correlation structure between MPs based on bipartite networks. This approach offers insights into the development and evolving dynamics of MPs.

This study aims to outline the transformative impacts of technological developments (TD) on architectural education (AE). The focus is on studying the dynamics of convergence and erosion, aiming to understand the impact of current digital transformations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, sustainability considerations and technology integration on AE.

A scientometric analysis and bibliometric search were performed to understand the current knowledge in the field. The Web of Science (WoS) was selected for its comprehensive collection of significant research articles and integrated analytical tools for generating representative data. The study involved an extensive bibliometric analysis of 131 journal articles on TD in AE from 2000 to 2023. Subsequently, the VOSviewer software was employed to illuminate the transformative impacts of technological advancements on AE. Robust methodologies, including citation analysis and co-citation networks, unravel quantitative dimensions such as publication trends, influential authors, prolific journals, geographic distribution and prevalent themes or technological domains within the discourse.

The findings reveal significant evolution in AE due to TD, with notable shifts influenced by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, sustainability concerns and the integration of modern technologies. Key findings include the increasing adoption of online platforms and technologies like Building Information Modeling (BIM), the crucial role of design thinking methodologies and the recognition of innovative modules such as architectural photogrammetry and augmented reality (AR) applications. Furthermore, keyword clusters were classified into six groups: “AE pedagogy and curriculum development,” “Development of architectural design process and studio,” “Educational approaches and digitalization in architectural design,” “Transition to online AE,” “Development/emergence of photogrammetry at architectural education” and “use of AR.”

Although several studies have addressed TD in AE from various perspectives and methods, they have yet to investigate the subject using scientometric analysis from a holistic perspective. A holistic exploration of TD in AE still needs to be improved in the existing literature. In contrast to previous investigations, this study is the first to leverage the quantitative analytical capabilities of VOSviewer. The originality lies in uncovering quantitative dimensions such as publication trends, influential authors and prevalent themes, providing a comprehensive understanding of the nuanced dimensions of this evolving intersection.

There is a growing mismatch between the skill demands of the industry and the offerings of academia. One way of reducing this mismatch is by improving collaborations between practitioners and instructors using web-networking platforms. However, it is important to understand practitioners’ considerations while collaborating with instructors. Therefore, this study identified these considerations in order to infer inputs for the design of the graphical user interface (GUI) of a web-based platform for connecting instructors and practitioners.

A mixed method was adopted through a survey and focus group. A survey was used to capture practitioners’ considerations while collaborating with instructors for student development, and a focus group helped uncover an in-depth understanding of the study phenomena. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and thematic analysis.

The results show the willingness of practitioners to collaborate with instructors for student development, the ways by which practitioners are willing to meet instructors' course-support needs and their considerations in deciding to do so. Slight differences were observed between the results of the survey and the focus group regarding the ranking of the practitioners’ considerations. The study highlighted demographic differences in practitioners’ considerations when deciding on meeting instructors' course-support needs. The results provide a basis to deduce the GUI inputs of web-networking platforms for connecting instructors and practitioners.

This study revealed practitioners’ design needs and GUI inputs to facilitate the design of web-networking platforms for connecting instructors and practitioners. This study also contributes to user interface design principles, theories on individual differences and practitioners’ involvement in student professional development.

This study aimed to investigate how honest participants perceived an attacker to be during shoulder surfing scenarios that varied in terms of which Principle of Persuasion in Social Engineering (PPSE) was used, whether perceived honesty changed as scenarios progressed, and whether any changes were greater in some scenarios than others.

Participants read one of six shoulder surfing scenarios. Five depicted an attacker using one of the PPSEs. The other depicted an attacker using as few PPSEs as possible, which served as a control condition. Participants then rated perceived attacker honesty.

The results revealed honesty ratings in each condition were equal during the beginning of the conversation, participants in each condition perceived the attacker to be honest during the beginning of the conversation, perceived attacker honesty declined when the attacker requested the target perform an action that would afford shoulder surfing, perceived attacker honesty declined more when the Distraction and Social Proof PPSEs were used, participants perceived the attacker to be dishonest when making such requests using the Distraction and Social Proof PPSEs and perceived attacker honesty did not change when the attacker used the target’s computer.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this experiment is the first to investigate how persuasion tactics affect perceptions of attackers during shoulder surfing attacks. These results have important implications for shoulder surfing prevention training programs and penetration tests.

Many studies have examined pre-diploma students' backgrounds and academic performance with results showing that some did not achieve the expected level of competence. This study aims to examine the relationship between students’ demographic characteristics and their academic achievement at the pre-diploma level using machine learning.

Secondary data analysis was used in this study, which involved collecting information about 1,052 pre-diploma students enrolled at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Pahang Branch between 2017 and 2021. The research procedure was divided into two parts: data collecting and pre-processing, and building the machine learning algorithm, pre-training and testing.

Gender, family income, region and achievement in the national secondary school examination (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia [SPM]) predict academic performance. Female students were 1.2 times more likely to succeed academically. Central region students performed better with a value of 1.26. M40-income students were more likely to excel with an odds ratio of 2.809. Students who excelled in SPM English and Mathematics had a better likelihood of succeeding in higher education.

This research was limited to pre-diploma students from UiTM Pahang Branch. For better generalizability of the results, future research should include pre-diploma students from other UiTM branches that offer this programme.

This study is expected to offer insights for policymakers, particularly, the Ministry of Higher Education, in developing a comprehensive policy to improve the tertiary education system by focusing on the fourth Sustainable Development Goal.

These pre-diploma students were found to originate mainly from low- or middle-income families; hence, the programme may help them acquire better jobs and improve their standard of living. Most students enrolling on the pre-diploma performed below excellent at the secondary school level and were therefore given the opportunity to continue studying at a higher level.

This predictive model contributes to guidelines on the minimum requirements for pre-diploma students to gain admission into higher education institutions by ensuring the efficient distribution of resources and equal access to higher education among all communities.