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The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of employer-sponsored workforce training on employee productivity in the Australian transport and logistics industry. It challenges the quantitative notion of the ratio of input–output per labour hour as the single most important measure of productivity.

The study utilised a mixed-method approach, involving online and on-site survey questionnaires and on-site semi-structured interviews of employers, employees and students within the industry. Survey questionnaires were administered to Vocational Education and Training (VET) learners to determine the dimensions of productivity gains, while qualitative interviews were conducted specifically to capture employers’ perceptions and expectations of the benefits of training.

Results show that the relationship between employer-sponsored training and workforce productivity is multi-dimensional where, ideally, all essential dimensions must be fulfilled to effectively achieve sustainable productivity level. One dimension is the quantitative measure of increased performance as an outcome of enhanced knowledge, skills and competencies. Another relates to the increased self-confidence, job satisfaction and pride. The third dimension is the cost savings that come with increasing employees’ overall awareness and appreciation of occupational health and safety. The results show that, aside from the dominant theories on training and labour productivity, the perception of the benefits of training on workplace productivity is not merely limited to the conventional understanding of productivity as a simplistic relationship between resource inputs and tangible outputs.

Firms should consider redefining the benefits of training to include employee well-being and individual contribution to common team and organisational goals. Organisations therefore should broaden the notion of productivity to incorporate intangible benefits.

The use of multi-method approach to investigate the views and perceptions of employees, employers and trainers about the productivity benefits of training and key concerns and challenges for the industry.

The objective of this paper is to assess the relative efficiency of 12 selected Asia Pacific countries in their development of knowledge‐based economies (KEs).

The performances of the selected countries are evaluated using data envelopment analysis (DEA).

The DEA scores indicate that four of the emerging countries (India, Indonesia, Thailand and Mainland China) are relatively inefficient in K‐E development compared to the other eight which are equally efficient. The main reason for their backwardness is due to the outflow of their human capital resource to the developed countries. This seriously undermines the level of their K‐E development compared to their counterparts. The results also indicate that knowledge dissemination is generally not a serious problem, except for India.

The results and the discussion should be taken as the first step in an analysis which warrants further research. The knowledge clusters identified earlier could suggest that the k‐economy may be better studied by its components where the more diagnostic versions of the DEA model can be applied.

The importance of this study however, is not so much the immediate result which highlights comparative efficiencies, but rather that DEA is a workable model which can take the study of KE further in investigating the contributory factors of KE.

This paper makes an original contribution because a comprehensive analysis of this type, of relative performance measures of the knowledge economy in the Asia Pacific countries, has not been done before using the quantitative technique of DEA.

Heart of England Community Energy (HECE) is 1 of 495 community energy companies with 331 MW of community-owned renewable electricity collectively generating 506 GWh renewable electricity, saving £3.35 million on energy bills, 143,000 tCO2e annually, powering 174,000 UK households and contributing over £21.5 million to community benefit funds (Community Energy, 2022). HECE’s 15-MW array, comprising 60,000 solar panels, is located outside Stratford-upon-Avon generating renewable electricity since 2016, raising £17 million to make this possible and through surplus revenues over a 20-year period will contribute £6 million back into local communities. Small UK community energy companies face a wide range of challenges compared with policies elsewhere. The biggest hurdle for community energy companies in becoming a licenced energy supply company is the cost (IPPR, 2016). Gaining a grid connection is challenging with Ofgem estimating that between 60% and 70% of high voltage schemes never connect to the grid and a large backlog of green power projects has accumulated (Lawson, 2023). In Germany, where there is a ‘Right to Local Supply’ set-up, costs are proportional to the size of the energy organisation (Croner-i, 2022).

Whilst the Climate Change Committee has stated, ‘it will not be possible to get close to meeting a net zero target without engaging with people or by pursuing an approach that focuses only on supply-side changes’, government’s focus remains very largely supply-side focussed (Community Energy, 2022).

THE catalogue, as a library appliance of importance, has had more attention devoted to it than, perhaps, any other method or factor of librarianship. Its construction, materials, rules for compilation and other aspects have all been considered at great length, and in every conceivable manner, so that little remains for exposition save some points in the policy of the catalogue, and its effects on progress and methods. In the early days of the municipal library movement, when methods were somewhat crude, and hedged round with restrictions of many kinds, the catalogue, even in the primitive form it then assumed, was the only key to the book‐wealth of a library, and as such its value was duly recognized. As time went on, and the vogue of the printed catalogue was consolidated, its importance as an appliance became more and more established, and when the first Newcastle catalogue appeared and received such an unusual amount of journalistic notice, the idea of the printed catalogue as the indispensable library tool was enormously enhanced from that time till quite recently. One undoubted result of this devotion to the catalogue has been to stereotype methods to a great extent, leading in the end to stagnation, and there are places even now where every department of the library is made to revolve round the catalogue. Whether it is altogether wise to subordinate everything in library work to the cult of the catalogue has been questioned by several librarians during the past few years, and it is because there is so much to be said against this policy that the following reflections are submitted.

To provide a list of non‐fictional books, as published, for the use of Librarians and Book‐buyers generally, arranged so as to serve as a continuous catalogue of new books; an aid to exact classification and annotation ; and a select list of new books proposed to be purchased. Novels, school books, ordinary reprints and strictly official publications will not be included in the meantime.

This study aims to understand the career path to the pinnacle of professional life. What does it take for an entrepreneur to become a global celebrity in one’s profession? The authors explore the career motivation, trajectory and outcomes of a niche population who made it to the top of their careers.

A qualitative method was applied, using publicly available, prerecorded interviews of a documentary series on a unique sample of 30 top global chefs who gain Michelin-stars or equivalent. The authors used a qualitative approach to analyze the data alternating data and theory.

The authors identify a unique pattern, which the authors label as the “two-steps” trajectory, where these successful chefs went through a dual-hurdle process: first, delving into formal training and establishing themselves; then moving to a top chef status through innovation inspired by their history, chance events and treating their work as an artistic oeuvre and an experience.

The authors provide an observed pattern for what is required to be a top global chef.

This study advances career theory and entrepreneurship studies via integrating the two perspectives. The authors offer a theoretical contribution by identifying the relevance and importance of “new careers” for entrepreneurs, recognizing critical success factors and reinstating the balance between the agency of the entrepreneur and their context.

This case is one of a pair of cases used in a merger negotiation. It is designed to be used with “British Petroleum, Ltd.” (UVA-F-1263). One-half of the class prepares only the British Petroleum (BP) case, and one-half uses this case. BP and Amoco are considering a merger, and are in the process of negotiating a merger agreement. Macroeconomic assumptions, particularly forecasting future oil prices in an uncertain environment, and assumptions about Amoco's ability to reduce exploration and production costs make Amoco's future cash flows difficult to predict.

This case is one of a pair of cases used in a merger negotiation. It is designed to be used with “Amoco Corporation” (UVA-F-1262). One-half of the class prepares only the Amoco case, and one-half uses this case. BP and Amoco are considering a merger, and are in the process of negotiating a merger agreement. Macroeconomic assumptions, particularly forecasting future oil prices in an uncertain environment, and assumptions about Amoco's ability to reduce exploration and production costs make Amoco's future cash flows difficult to predict.

The purpose of this study is to extensively explore the vehicular network paradigm, challenges faced by them and provide a reasonable solution for securing these vulnerable networks. Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication has brought the long-anticipated goal of safe, convenient and sustainable transportation closer to reality. The connected vehicle (CV) paradigm is critical to the intelligent transportation systems vision. It imagines a society free of a troublesome transportation system burdened by gridlock, fatal accidents and a polluted environment. The authors cannot overstate the importance of CVs in solving long-standing mobility issues and making travel safer and more convenient. It is high time to explore vehicular networks in detail to suggest solutions to the challenges encountered by these highly dynamic networks.

This paper compiles research on various V2X topics, from a comprehensive overview of V2X networks to their unique characteristics and challenges. In doing so, the authors identify multiple issues encountered by V2X communication networks due to their open communication nature and high mobility, especially from a security perspective. Thus, this paper proposes a trust-based model to secure vehicular networks. The proposed approach uses the communicating nodes’ behavior to establish trustworthy relationships. The proposed model only allows trusted nodes to communicate among themselves while isolating malicious nodes to achieve secure communication.

Despite the benefits offered by V2X networks, they have associated challenges. As the number of CVs on the roads increase, so does the attack surface. Connected cars provide numerous safety-critical applications that, if compromised, can result in fatal consequences. While cryptographic mechanisms effectively prevent external attacks, various studies propose trust-based models to complement cryptographic solutions for dealing with internal attacks. While numerous trust-based models have been proposed, there is room for improvement in malicious node detection and complexity. Optimizing the number of nodes considered in trust calculation can reduce the complexity of state-of-the-art solutions. The theoretical analysis of the proposed model exhibits an improvement in trust calculation, better malicious node detection and fewer computations.

The proposed model is the first to add another dimension to trust calculation by incorporating opinions about recommender nodes. The added dimension improves the trust calculation resulting in better performance in thwarting attacks and enhancing security while also reducing the trust calculation complexity.