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With growing interest in the uses of hedonic technologies and gamification in system design, the concept of cognitive absorption (CA) has become increasingly salient in the information systems literature. However, little effort has been made to evaluate the research status and consolidate the current literature findings. To fill these research gaps, the authors conducted a literature review on CA. The authors then proposed an integrative framework that summarises the key elements of and variables related to CA and their relationships. The major findings of the study are discussed, and an agenda for future research is proposed.

Last year we published an article (RDM, May 1973) by these same authors which described how they approached their commission from the DITB to undertake a study of the manpower situation in distribution, in order to assist the Board in its policies. Now the main results of the survey have been published by the DITB (sec page 50), and it has provided a wealth of material which is being used by the DITB in planning its training policy. It also offers a sound basis for detailed analysis of distributive manpower. In this article the authors do not attempt to cover the whole range of information on employment, occupations, labour turnover and training. Rather than that, they examine specifically what changes have taken place and are currently going on in the sphere of employment in distribution, particularly in relation to women, part‐timers, and young people. In addition they look at the possible impact of two pieces of legislation — the Raising of the School Leaving Age (ROSLA) and the Equal Pay Act. They refer to several sources, as the DITB survey itself gives a picture of only one point in time. Further articles will draw together other findings relating to labour turnover, recruitment, and aspects of training.

In previous issues writers from the Institute of Manpower Studies have described the manpower survey which they undertook in 1972/73 for the DITB, and which provided much material for the DITB in planning its training policy. In this article they move on from the question of employment and manpower and look at the overall picture of training in distribution — what kinds of training are being provided? Which groups of people in which firms are being trained? What is the relationship between the use of different training methods and the size of the firms studied?

Organizations are considering the influence of workplace attention breadth (mindfulness and absorption) on professional development. Although corporate accountants typically focus on technical skills, soft skills such as mindfulness may also improve performance. In this study, we examine the influence of attention breadth on task performance by demonstrating how mindfulness and absorption vary with respect to improvement to entry, mid, and upper-level accounting tasks. We survey over 700 corporate accounting professionals and find that upper-level manager task performance is related to mindfulness, and mid-level manager task performance is associated with mindfulness and absorption. We also find that mid-level professionals who are unable to transition between mindfulness and absorption states serve a relatively longer tenure before advancing to an upper-level position. This study has important implications for management to assist in improving office productivity and morale.

The measurement of the costs of crime is an increasingly important topic in established industrial economies. Such costs imply a substantial loss in both tangible and intangible productivity, opportunity cost, resource use and quality of life. Here, we summarise the results of the latest research in the UK, and show that researchers are using increasingly accurate costs and indices analyses to allow the calculation of the costs of criminal activity.

This paper aims at the derivation of an accurate reluctance model of a transverse flux permanent magnet machine (TFPM) and its validation by finite element analysis (FEA).

Analytical prediction of the different reluctances in the core, the permanent magnets, and the air. These reluctances characterize the paths of both main and leakage fluxes. Then, a validation of the proposed reluctance model is carried out using FEA. An interesting application of the proposed reluctance consists in the assessment of the TFPM torque production capability.

The torque yielded by the reluctance model of the TFPM and the one computed using 3D‐FEA are in good agreement. This result is of great importance in so far as the CPU time required for 3D‐FEA computation is much more higher than the one consumed in the resolution of the reluctance model.

Further validation of the results yielded by the proposed reluctance model through their comparison with experimental measurements shall be treated in the future.

The proposed reluctance model is of great interest for the TFPM sizing. It could be useful in the pre‐design procedure of the machine.

The paper proposes a new reluctance model where the leakage fluxes are accurately predicted.

This paper aims to investigate the phenomenon of active escapism – a unique form of experiential consumption that engages fantasy and role-play as a means of coping. In contrast with passive forms of escapism, whereby consumers act as observers (e.g. watching a movie), active escapism provides consumers with the opportunity to directly interact with mediated realities, whether constructed in a virtual space (e.g. a video game) or the real world.

Within the context of video game consumption, a conceptual framework for active escapism comprised antecedents, processes and consequences is established through literature review, depth interviews and naturalistic inquiry.

The findings suggest that active escapism functions as a coping mechanism when consumers are confronted with external stressors that threaten either their sense of identity or control. While other forms of emotion-focused coping relieve stress through psychological avoidance (i.e. refocusing of attention away from stressors), active escapism provides the benefits of affirmation and empowerment through projective fantasy (i.e. role-play) and presence (i.e. immersion into a mediated reality).

The conceptual framework established by this analysis gives insight into the structure of active escapism as a theoretical construct, providing a foundation for future research. Managerial implications for consumer escapism (e.g. branded in-game content) are discussed.

People are management's most important asset, and in no other industry is this more true than in retail distribution. Not only is it highly labour intensive but, with the addition of the crucial role played by the consumer, the question of human relations becomes of paramount importance. This special feature is therefore concerned with various aspects of people at work. Firstly, Dr Olive Robinson and Mr John Wallace have written the first of a series of articles dealing with current questions of wage payment and employment in the distributive trades. Following on this Mr M.F. Hall reports on a pilot study, undertaken in a department store, which examines the output of selling staff and assesses their effectiveness. Finally, three writers from the Institute of Manpower Studies (concerned with improving the management of human resources in industry), describe how they set about a study of the manpower situation in distribution, a commission offered them by the DITB.

This study's purpose is to propose an integrated post-adoption model based on expectation-confirmation model (ECM) and cognitive absorption (CA) theory to examine whether network factors, gamification factor, and quality factors as antecedents to end-users' beliefs can affect their continuance intention of the robo-advisor.

A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed in three sample banks in Taiwan, and sample data for this study were collected from these three banks' customers who had experience in using these banks' own robo-advisor to make their investment decisions. Consequently, 381 useable questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling in this study, with a useable response rate of 63.5%.

This study proposes a solid research model that based on ECM and CA theory, three types of factors, network factors, gamification factor, and quality factors, as antecedents to end-users’ continuance intention of the robo-advisor have been examined, and this study's results strongly support the research model with all hypothesized links being significant.

This study contributes to end-users' continuance intention of the robo-advisor based on ECM, CA theory, theory of network externalities, gamification, and updated DeLone and McLean IS success model, and reveals deep insights into the evaluation of determinants in the field of end-users' continuance intention of the robo-advisor. Hence, it is especially worth mentioning that three types of determinants (i.e. network factors, gamification factor, and quality factors) are simultaneously evaluated, and extrinsic and intrinsic motivators are both taken into account in this study's research model development of end-users' continuance intention of the robo-advisor to acquire a more all-round and robust analysis.

The study of nutrition is one of the few areas in which ideas and concepts formulated by scientists and clinicians may have immediate impact, through the media, upon the knowledge, behaviour and habits of the populace. This effect has been evident recently in the gradual rediscovery of the advantages of breast‐feeding, dietary fibre and in the possible problems of overfeeding young infants. The resurgence of interest in the possible importance of thermogenic mechanisms in regulating energy balance may have similar impact in forthcoming years.