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Improvement science (IS) has become a popular approach to organizing school–university partnerships because of IS’s potential to increase schools' capacity for sustainable improvement. However, little research has directly examined whether and how specific elements of IS support school improvement, particularly during and post-COVID-19 when improvement was particularly challenging.

We draw on a longitudinal case study of a school-university partnership supporting a group of schools using IS to guide school improvement with data collected in Fall 2019–Spring 2022 including interviews and meeting observations. We compare how educators engaged with three IS elements: plan-do-study-act (PDSA) continuous improvement (CI) cycles, networked learning and driver diagrams. We qualitatively examine participants' perspectives of these elements through the lens of contingency theory, analyzing which elements were more or less successful at empowering schools to continue their improvement efforts throughout the pandemic.

IS processes are varied in their resilience to complexity. Schools mostly abandoned some elements during tumultuous periods (PDSA cycles) while others were successfully adapted to sustain improvement work (driver diagrams). Findings also discuss the perceived impact of university partners in school improvement work, primarily as coaches.

These findings are uniquely positioned to examine whether and how IS elements enabled sustained school improvement amidst the complexities generated by COVID-19. By focusing on strengths and limitations of three common elements, we offer valuable guidance to school–university partnerships about the conditions under which these elements might support sustained school improvement and how these elements might need to be adapted.

Prior literature has studied the factors that impact CPA exam pass rates. Our study extends this research by examining whether a CPA exam review course is associated with exam pass rates and whether the nature of the course matters. We controlled for several factors that prior studies show are associated with student success on the CPA exam. We surveyed 76 US accounting programs and added data from school websites and NASBA publications. After controlling for known collates with CPA exam pass rates, our results provide evidence that offering a CPA review course impacts CPA pass rates for both First-time and All Candidates if it is a credit-bearing elective and there was a reallocation of workload from other accounting courses.

The aim of this chapter is to explore the safety value of implementing Asimov's Laws of Robotics as a future general framework that humans should obey. Asimov formulated laws to make explicit the safeguards of the robots in his stories: (1) A robot may not injure or harm a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; (2) A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law; (3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. In Asimov's stories, it is always assumed that the laws are built into the robots to govern the behaviour of the robots. As his stories clearly demonstrate, the Laws can be ambiguous. Moreover, the laws are not very specific. General rules as a guide for robot behaviour may not be a very good method to achieve robot safety – if we expect the robots to follow them. But would it work for humans? In this chapter, we ask whether it would make as much, or more, sense to implement the laws in human legislation with the purpose of governing the behaviour of people or companies that develop, build, market or use AI, embodied in robots or in the form of software, now and in the future.

Drawing from transformative service research (TSR) and service ecosystem perspectives, the author seeks to provide multi-level insights into gaming service systems and call to action how this knowledge can contribute to cultivating socially responsible gaming by addressing the following research questions: What insights from service ecosystem and TSR literature can help optimise value co-creation and cultivate socially responsible practices in digital gaming services? What future research directions could advance the understanding of digital gaming services and their potential to develop a responsible gaming ecosystem that balances social well-being with commercial success?

Adopting a conceptual approach of theory synthesis and adaptation, the author discusses four overarching themes alongside key research gaps and directions crucial for understanding the dynamics of gaming ecosystem.

The central themes – “Exploring individuals as game service consumers”, “Gaming service exchange dynamics among meso-level stakeholders”, “A macro lens to gaming service ecosystem” and “The complexities of multi-actor dynamics and interdependencies” – shed light on how responsible services can be fostered.

Given the absence of a well-defined scope for understanding responsible gaming, future research should develop a typology to capture its multifaceted aspects. Expanding beyond micro-level analysis, conducting consultation interviews with industry practitioners and policymakers can contribute insights into promoting responsible gaming services.

The author offers insights for the game players, designers and developers, service providers and policymakers to promote a healthy gaming culture.

Through this research, the author advances the understanding of gaming as a service by illuminating value co-creation and co-destruction within an interconnected gaming service ecosystem through the lens of TSR. Such understanding empowers businesses to prioritise consumer welfare in their decision-making and practices.

This study aims to examine the impact of non-fungible tokens (NFTs’) characteristics on Chinese consumers’ purchase intention towards luxury fashion physical products. It also investigates the mediating role of perceived hedonic value and moderating role of perceived NFT–physical product fit during the buying process.

A conceptual model combining Stimuli–Organism–Response Model and Theory of Consumption Value was established. A purposive sampling method was adopted to collect data from luxury fashion consumers aged 21–41 who lived in four Tier 1 cities in China. Structural equation modelling and SmartPLS 4.0 were utilized to analyse the 304 valid questionnaires collected.

The study’s findings indicate that luxury fashion NFTs with four characteristics (NFT scarcity, NFT exclusivity, NFT design aesthetic and NFT novelty) affect Chinese consumers’ purchase intention towards luxury fashion physical products positively, with perceived hedonic value mediating these relationships. Further, perceived NFT–physical product fit moderates the relationship between perceived hedonic value and purchase intention.

This study bridges a gap in investigating the interplay between NFTs as intangible collectibles and tangible products, by stressing the significant role played by NFTs in influencing the purchase intention of luxury fashion products. This paper contributes to an understanding of consumers’ psychological responses and behaviours towards NFTs, providing a new perspective in the study of luxury fashion NFTs in the context of marketing strategy and consumption.

This research investigates the effect of festival attributes such as music quality, atmosphere and place on music festival visitors' behavioural intentions, particularly focusing on how visitors’ satisfaction and their subjective well-being mediate these relationships.

This research was designed as quantitative research to reveal the relationships between music quality, place and atmosphere with visitors' behavioural intentions. Structural equation modelling was used to test the relationships between the constructs using data from 256 festival attendees in Edirne.

The results reveal that perceived music quality and atmosphere significantly enhance visitors’ satisfaction, which in turn positively impacts word-of-mouth intention and subjective well-being. Moreover, subjective well-being positively and significantly affects visitors' revisit intentions. Finally, visitors’ satisfaction mediates the relationship between perceived music quality and word-of-mouth intention.

It is one of the first studies to investigate the mediating effects of visitor satisfaction and subjective well-being on the relationships between perceived music quality, atmosphere, place and the behavioural intentions of music festival attendees. Furthermore, the present study provides not only empirical support for the theoretical frameworks but also offers practical insights for festival organizers on enhancing visitor experiences to improve behavioural outcomes.

The metaverse is considered an evolution of the Internet, and it engages users with digital content more seamlessly due to its enhanced immersion and diverse applications. The current study examines factors affecting the intention to adopt the metaverse. Existing studies on metaverse were found insufficient in explaining users’ intention to adopt metaverse, for which the companies are investing vast amounts of money for its implementation. The study fills the research gaps in the literature and applies the UTAUT2 (Unified Theory Of Acceptance And Use of Technology) and PAD (Pleasure, Arousal, Dominance) theory in the SOR (Stimulus-Organism-Response) framework. The study proposes a conceptual model by including effort expectancy, hedonic motivation, social influence, security personalization as stimuli, arousal, dominance, pleasure, immersive experience and perceived value as organismic variables and intention to adopt metaverse as the response variable, with gender as a moderator.

The study used purposive non-probability sampling approach and total of 420 responses were collected to examine the model. The partial least squares (PLS) technique is used for data analysis using Smart PLS software.

The study’s findings suggest that social influence and immersive experience have the highest impact on perceived value which affects users’ intention to adopt metaverse. Results indicate that individuals perceive value on using metaverse when it provides enjoyment and fun as well as security. Hence, it is important to ensure not only that individuals feel hedonically motivated but also feel secured and exert less effort to use the metaverse.

The study contributes to the existing literature on metaverse and extends its association with immersive experience and the theories applied. The fundamental qualities of metaverse that contribute to its immersive and enjoyable nature can influence users' behavioral responses. Our research emphasizes the importance of executives acknowledging the development of organismic experience within metaverse.

The insights derived from this study will serve to expand the knowledge of metaverse application developers, offering valuable guidance in incorporating these factors into their development processes. By prominently displaying security measures, metaverse brands can demonstrate their commitment to mitigating risks associated with virtual interactions. This includes clearly communicating the security protocols in place to protect user data and privacy and providing detailed information about security features can build trust and alleviate concerns.

The study highlights how the metaverse features affect individuals toward its adoption intent. Specifically, the study reveals that social influence and security affect the metaverse, further affecting the adoption intent of the metaverse. This has implications for enhancing customer relationships and value cocreation with different stakeholders. The research also recognizes that security measures are necessary for metaverse technology. These reactions could include placing regulations and standards in place to deal with the social and economic effects, making sure that data is collected and used ethically, and giving privacy and security measures priority.

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge as it is the first of its kind to explore and link immersive experience, pleasure and perceived value from the metaverse’s point of view to explore the user’s adoption intention. The study also contributes to the SOR framework with UTAUT2 and PAD theories by applying it to the metaverse context, which is used in limits.

In this paper, we investigate the current conditions as well as possibilities of a better interaction between architects and user–clients in the Belgian single-family housing context. We specifically focus on issues around client learning and knowledge sharing of architectural services.

Following the research through design methodology, we report on a co-design process converging towards a multi-layered journey map tool. We analyze the discussions held between architects and user-clients during “Ideation & Design” workshops that led to this specific tool idea, within a broader co-design process context.

In terms of client learning and knowledge sharing, there is a need for (1) sharing the process knowledge, (2) clarifying responsibilities and missions of both parties and (3) considering different levels of engagement of user-clients. Current ways of interaction around these issues are mostly based on verbal exchanges during meetings and written explanations in contracts. In terms of future expectations, it has been revealed that both parties are in favor of (1) keeping the relationship trustworthy but informal, (2) using visual ways of representing the architectural journey and (3) providing additional “pedagogical” support when needed.

Our work not only discusses current practices regarding client learning and knowledge sharing of architectural services but also highlights the future-oriented aspirations of architects and user-clients. It proposes actionable design criteria and a multi-layered journey map tool to support the relationship between architects and user-clients, both transferable to architectural education.