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This chapter is a retrospective commentary on the efficacy of teaching and learning in a higher education space that embraces the incredible diversity of delivery modes available in the post-Covid-19 era of “Smart Cities.” The current reality of widespread and leading-edge experimentation with online learning necessitates that existing brick-and-mortar institutions reimagine their places as providers of higher education in this new age of digital disruptions that will resonate with all stakeholders a future of endless possibilities. The authors, with four decades between them of practice and field research at leading universities and colleges in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, and UAE, advocate an approach to higher education that is personalized for learning effectiveness, industrial operations, and institutional evolution; that is, a higher education that is democratized. They warn that the wasted opportunities of meaningful digital transformation pre-Covid-19 have led to an urgency of transformation at the present time. While randomized control trials continue to be the “elephant in the room”; scholars, leaders, technocrats, and regulators must drive the quest for the growth and relevance of a diversified and learner-driven higher education in the years ahead. The platform of a “smart city” may just be the catalyst for such a radical innovation.

Management discretion in the decision to reduce payroll costs is an important but under-researched issue in management accounting. The authors leverage the experimental environment to test the role of organizational culture (close vs. distant) and managerial communion (concern for others) along with their interaction with sales decline persistence (one vs. two periods) on planned layoff decisions. The authors find that communal managers are hesitant to downsize employees and that a close organizational culture interacts with one period sales declines to reduce layoffs although the influence of culture is reduced with persistent sales declines. The authors also examine the influence of culture and communion on managers’ preference for pay cuts as an alternative to layoffs. The authors find that a close culture and higher communion are associated with decisions to choose pay cuts over layoffs; however, these costs interact such that managers low in communion in a distant culture express a higher preference for layoffs. These findings illustrate the combined influence of economic, organizational, and dispositional factors on manager decisions about the extent and form of labor cost reductions due to sales declines.

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation encourages business schools to exhibit alignment within their mission, strategies and outcomes to achieve success. The present study aims to explore the idea of mission alignment and how it may serve as an important moderator to the relationship between organizational resources and school performance as measured through business school rank.

Our study utilizes the AACSB International business school survey (BSQ) data to analyze the mission statements of accredited business schools and capture data on organizational resources. We also created an index of mission alignment to gauge congruency between the stated mission and strategic focus. Our performance measure was the U.S. News and World Report undergraduate business school programs ranking value.

Our results show mission alignment on its own has little direct impact on organizational performance. However, when mission statement alignment and resource allocations are combined, they interact to influence organizational performance.

Our research demonstrates that resource allocation decisions and mission alignment are two important attributes of an organization and that mission alignment has the potential to leverage an organization’s resources and capabilities to improve performance.

Based on upper echelons theory, this study aims to explore the impact of senior management’s academic experience on corporate risk-taking and analyze the pathways and potential moderating effects of this relationship.

This study uses panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange from 2008 to 2020. An ordinary least squares model is used to test the hypothesis.

The results indicate that senior management’s academic experience suppresses corporate risk-taking, with investment level and cash reserves being two important channels. The moderation effect test shows that the inhibitory effect becomes more pronounced when senior managers with academic backgrounds occupy chief executive officer or chief financial officer roles. Conversely, when academic executives possess overseas/financial backgrounds or increase their compensation incentives, the strength of this disincentive effect diminishes. Moreover, our extended research finds that this inhibitory effect is more pronounced in state-owned companies and those within a strong Confucian cultural environment. Additionally, senior management’s academic experience positively correlates with both current and future market returns and company value.

This study contributes to the development of top management team building and corporate governance practices. Additionally, it furnishes investors with valuable insights into assessing the risk level of companies through the characteristics of their top management teams, thereby facilitating informed investment decision-making and improving capital market resource allocation efficiency.

The research explores how these volunteering experiences in Chinese art museums influence students’ future teaching careers and employability.

Our study delves into the educational value of art museum volunteering for higher education students, focussing particularly on those majoring in elementary education. Utilising a triangulation methodology that includes questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and observations, we collected data from 30 art museums across 17 provinces in China. Our research aims to understand how these volunteering experiences influence students’ future teaching careers and employability.

The study examines the types of educational activities offered, the art education experiences gained and the impact on students’ skills. The findings suggest that volunteering enhances students’ practical skills in art education, creativity, critical thinking, cultural understanding and employability, contributing positively to their future educator roles. The findings highlight the importance of partnerships between museums and higher education institutions to improve the quality of art education and the professional preparation of future educators.

We identified some limitations. Because the period of investigation for this study was limited to a recent year, the unique strategies and techniques for conducting educational practices varied from museum to museum, resulting in different barriers and opportunities for improvement for volunteers. This study did not conduct a detailed analysis of gender- and region-specific differences, nor did it include interviews with museum educators and educational program spokespersons or an analysis of their opinions.

Our research fills a notable gap in the existing literature by focussing on the Asian context and underscores the importance of collaborative efforts between museums and higher education institutions.

This paper aims to provide a critical reflection on the impact of the gig economy on the hospitality workforce. The impact of the gig economy on hospitality workforce management is explored, with the paper delving into both theoretical insights and practical implications.

This paper offers reflections on the emerging trend of the gig economy and its impacts on the hospitality workforce, based on evidence collected from the selected literature, industry report and authors’ personal reflections. A micro-meso-macro analytical framework was also applied to assist authors in building the arguments and propositions.

The findings not only revealed the impacts of the gig economy on the hospitality workforce at micro-meso-macro levels but also underscored its close relationships with various concepts in the hospitality management literature. Both future research directions and practical implications are provided.

Amid the gig economy’s transformative influence, stakeholders must continually innovate for an empowering and secure work environment. A holistic approach is necessary to establish a harmonious gig ecosystem, ensuring fair treatment, benefits and protection for workers while fostering growth and well-being.

Throughout the paper, a critical reflection on the impact of the gig economy on the hospitality workforce is presented, along with suggestions for coping with current labor issues in hospitality and tourism. Future research directions are outlined.

Cognitive decline and dementia are major causes of disability. Research has suggested a relationship between dietary intake and memory problems in individuals. This study aims to examine the dietary histories of participants with newly diagnosed memory problems.

A total of 285 subjects (129 cases and 156 controls) were included in this retrospective case−control study. This paper used a food frequency questionnaire to determine the intake of dietary food groups in the previous year and a general questionnaire to assess food habits. The strength of the association between dietary history and memory problems was assessed using logistic regression and Pearson’s tests.

In this study, 73% of participants had a lower middle income and consumed less than the recommended number of meats, fruits and vegetables (1.2, 1.8 and 0.99 units/day, respectively). Participants with memory problems were more likely to take supplements than those without (P = 0.01). There was no significant difference in energy intake between the case and control groups (1634 Kcal vs 1656 Kcal). The results of the logistic regression showed that consuming any of the food groups in the previous nine months was not associated with memory problems. However, the Pearson test showed that an increase in the consumption of high-quality protein and vegetables had a slightly nonsignificant relationship with a decrease in the severity of memory disorder.

It is safe to suggest consuming adequate amounts of high-quality protein and affordable protein from sources such as dairy products, meats and vegetables. Research is insufficient to recommend the use of dietary supplements as a means of preventing memory disorders.

This study examines the extent to which brand-level satisfaction scores are related to loyalty metrics, controlling for the double jeopardy effect as well as the demographic profile of the brand’s customer base.

The study uses data for brands in three UK financial services categories: banks, car/home insurance, and life insurance. Regression analysis is used to examine the relationships between brand size, satisfaction levels, demographic profiles, and loyalty.

Firstly, the study finds a strong “double jeopardy” association. That is, larger brands have more loyalty, both in terms of behavior and stated preference. Next, brands with higher satisfaction scores tend to have somewhat higher first-preference loyalty, controlling for the double jeopardy effect. There are mixed results in relation to satisfaction’s link to behavioral loyalty. Lastly, aspects of a brand’s demographic profile, particularly in terms of whether it skews towards high-income customers, are associated with somewhat lower loyalty metrics, both behavioral and conative.

The findings represent an original contribution by translating what have been to date principally individual-buyer level associations (between satisfaction, demographics and loyalty) into brand-level relationships that are arguably more relevant to managers who act on this level of reporting.