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This article traces the experience of countries reforming their vocational education and training policies and summarizes the lessons learned. It is based on a recent joint World Bank‐ILO study focussing on the obstacles to implementing change in vocational education and training systems in response to changing labor markets and innovative approaches to overcoming these constraints in 19 countries worldwide. It tracks the demand‐side pressures and supply‐side responses and highlights some critical issues, constraints and innovations in the reform of these systems. The main messages from this study are: matching instrument to target group is as important as picking the best delivery mode; the government’s role in facilitating the provision of information about vocational education and training has been relatively neglected; a vigorous private response has refuted claims of the reluctance of private providers to enter the field; and political will, not institutional capacity, is the main obstacle to comprehensive reform.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether there were significant differences in the factors affecting economic contribution and performance of small hotel clusters in the three regions of Arusha, Dar es Salaam, and Mwanza in Tanzania. This paper also assesses whether there were significant differences in developmental policies, and industry and competitive environments of small hotel activity in these three regions.

In the paper data were collected using a novel method of educational workshops held in the three regions. Three short questionnaires were used in the paper to gather data on demographic information of participants and businesses, business environment, and economic transactions of these businesses.

The paper finds that statistical analyses indicate that factors including development policies, competitive and business environment are significantly different among the three regions.

This paper presented a framework within which policy and industry practices could be comparatively benchmarked amongst multiple locations. Continued future research is essential to contribute towards the dearth of literature formally assessing small hotel activity in developing economies.

The results of this paper could be used to evaluate industry practices as comparative benchmarks across regions. Policy makers in Tanzania can use the data provided to close gaps in services provided to support the three regions. This could lead to a more balanced development of small hotels across the country.

This paper adds to the sparse literature on small hospitality business research, comparative spatial analysis within the hospitality industry, and offers an insight into factors affecting operations of small hospitality businesses in developing nations. The paper also introduces the usage of novel data collection methods from small businesses that are otherwise inaccessible to such research studies. The paper found this data collection method mutually beneficial for both the participants and the researchers.

Business performance measurement is vital to expanding knowledge of how various strategies and behaviors affect organization outcomes. Given the recent growth of the family business research field, it is appropriate to assess how researchers measure family business performance, seeking to provide thoughts related to how to improve family business performance measurement in research. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study applies a systematic approach to review 338 family business performance studies published in peer-reviewed journals from 1980 through 2015.

Observations are presented from this exhaustive review, including the expansion of the family business research field, types of journals publishing family business studies, research topics, types of measures utilized, and others. In addition, potential gaps are identified and possible solutions are presented.

It appears no review of family business performance measurement in research is available. Observations from this review may assist researchers in measuring a vital metric, family business performance.

Through life stories and the unique lens of military combat service, this study analyzes how Israeli Jewish women construct their relationship to the Jewish nation-state.

This qualitative study establishes a theoretical relationship between gender and the nation, including concepts such as the nation-state, the public/private divide, Jewish womanhood, and militarization in Israel. It utilizes in-depth semi-structured life story interviews with 17 Israeli Jewish women, who served in combat roles in the Israeli military.

These women demonstrate ambivalent and gendered narratives of sacrifice and success and of loyalty and resistance as they transgress and comply with the idea of the national Jewish home. They reveal a strong desire for national belonging that can be seen as an attempt to challenge the gendered public/private divide and secure their status as qualified citizens.

Women’s integration in the military is a political issue in Israel where liberal and radical feminists, religious, bureaucratic, and other civil groups are pushing for contrasting demands. I engage in this debate by emphasizing the voices of women soldiers.

Instead of focusing on subjugation and marginalization owing to the unsolvable conundrum of partial military inclusion leading to (partial) political and societal exclusion, I offer an analysis of military combat service as a meaning-making practice providing a new understanding of Israeli women’s relationship to the Jewish nation-state.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically analyze the literature on business model innovation by identifying its triggers, enablers, barriers, dimensions, outcomes and highlight avenues for future research.

A systematic literature review of papers on business model innovation was conducted based on the recommendations of Tranfield et al. (2003) from 2000–2019. A total of 70 conceptual and empirical studies on business model innovation research spanning from 2000 to 2019 were analyzed based on different classification schemes.

The systematic review approach of this paper offers a new perspective in understanding business model innovation, bridges the gap in the extant literature by providing consolidation regarding the triggers, enablers, barriers, dimensions and outcomes of business model innovation and indicating avenues for future research.

A review of literature on business model innovation carried out in this paper is expected to open up new horizons for future researchers to develop and empirically test frameworks related to business model innovation. The five themes identified to shed light on important aspects of business model innovation. These themes are expected to not only strengthen the theoretical foundations of business model innovation but also help practitioners develop and implement business model innovations in their organizations. In particular, the themes related to the enablers, barriers, triggers and outcomes of business model innovation can provide useful insights for practitioners.

This study is the first of its kind that has provided consolidation regarding the triggers, enablers, barriers, dimensions and outcomes of business model innovation.

The subject areas for this case are auditing, fraud and investigations. It is also relevant for teaching aspects of corporate governance.

This case consolidates techniques and methodologies of special investigations and demonstrates weaknesses in governance and internal controls. It is appropriate for final year undergraduate students and graduate students who have attended classes on basics of accounting and financial reporting.

The case is about institutional governance and the effects of ineptness at different levels of an organization that resulted in TAS. 133 billion being “improperly” paid out to 22 firms in the financial year 2005/2006.The case is structured to focus at the dilemma of the Director of Finance as an individual who featured in the latter stages of an extensive fraud where old unclaimable debts were revived and were being claimed and paid to fictitious assignees involving a number of Central Bank officials. However, the case seeks to interrogate issues related to financial records and controls in which the position of Director of Finance had more relevance.

Working on this case should result in enabling students to acquire expertise necessary for forensic accounting. It should also enable students to learn to gain an understanding of the practice of investigative and forensic accounting as well as an understanding of the interrelationships of the parties involved in forensic investigations.

Teaching note.

Despite the growing literature on business model innovation (BMI) and its implications for firm performance, the research on the antecedents of BMI is still at a budding stage. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to bridge this gap by examining the causal relationships between knowledge management, BMI, competitive advantage, and firm performance.

A purposive sample of 300 micro, small, and medium enterprises was collected with more than 500 employees and total revenue between 50 and 500 million Indian Rupees, according to the Development Act, 2005. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling through smart PLS 3.

The study’s findings show that knowledge management significantly influences BMI. This study also highlights the synergic impact of Knowledge management and BMI on firm performance. Furthermore, findings highlight the mediating role of competitive advantage in the relationship between knowledge management, BMI, and firm performance.

Understanding the impact of BMI and knowledge management is crucial for business owners, managers, and other stakeholders to plan for the continuous improvement of their businesses. Managers can secure a favorable position in the competitive market and improve organizational performance by paying attention to effectively managing their knowledge resources.

The study is one of the first few empirical efforts to investigate the causal relationships between knowledge management, BMI and firm performance. The study adds to the scant literature in this area by highlighting the mediating role of competitive advantage.

Dynamic predictions of financial distress of the firms have received less attention in finance literature rather than static prediction, specifically in Malaysia. This study, therefore, investigates dynamic symptoms of the financial distress event a few years before it happened to the firms by using neural network method. Cox Proportional Hazard regression models are used to estimate the survival probabilities of Malaysian PN17 and GN3 listed firms. Forecast accuracy is evaluated using receiver operating characteristics curve. From the findings, it shown that the independent directors’ ownership has negative association with the financial distress likelihood. In addition, this study modeled a mix of corporate financial distress predictors for Malaysian firms. The combination of financial and non-financial ratios which pressure-sensitive institutional ownership, independent director ownership, and Earnings Before Interest and Taxes to Total Asset shown a negative relationship with financial distress likelihood specifically one year before the firms being listed in PN 17 and GN 3 status. However, Retained Earnings to Total Asset, Interest Coverage, and Market Value of Debt have positive relationship with firm financial distress likelihood. These research findings also contribute to the policy implications to the Securities Commission and specifically to Bursa Malaysia. Furthermore, one of the initial goals in introducing the PN17 and GN3 status is to alleviate the information asymmetry between distressed firms, the regulators, and investors. Therefore, the regulator would be able to monitor effectively distressed firms, and investors can protect from imprudent investment.

This paper aims to examine the role of innovation strategy on economic sustainability in the hospitality industry. The focus is on the tourist hotels in Tanzania.

The study uses survey of tourist hotels (n = 346) in the country’s Coastal and Northern tourist circuits. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationship.

The findings indicate that innovation strategy in the industry emphasizes on standardized services; service quality; product introduction readiness and lastly on technology usage. Innovation strategy positively relates with the economic sustainability performance. Specifically, the strategy promotes hotels' sustainable growth, resource management long-term profitability, customer satisfaction and value chain management.

The findings elucidate on how sustainability can be integrated with core business strategies, to make corporate sustainability a reality. The findings also enlighten on the need for hotels to focus on innovation strategy to benefit from sustainability related opportunities. Moreover, the ability to understand customers’ needs and develop innovative services that offer social and environmental solutions can have an important implication on long-term economic success.

Most studies in the hospitality industry focus on innovative strategies geared towards environmental management. Hence, understanding how innovative strategy influences long-term economic sustainability as a core focus of any business endeavour is important. This study contributes to that body of knowledge as it uses innovation strategy based on Schumpeterian entrepreneurial approach in understanding the role of innovation on economic sustainability.