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The purpose of this study is to explore how the phenomenon of academic professional development looks through the eyes of graduate students navigating the increasing complexity of postgraduate careers. This study pays particular attention to how current students navigate the interplay between their beliefs, intentions and behaviors when it comes to making choices regarding their engagement in professional development.

This is a qualitative study, based on a phenomenological analysis of seven in-depth interviews with advanced PhD students from the earth sciences college at a large, public, research-intensive university located in the mid-Atlantic area of the USA (Penn State).

Framed in the Theory of Planned Behavior, the findings of this study suggest that the interviewees varied across all aspects of Theory of Planned Behavior: in their beliefs about valued career paths, in their convergence or divergence from the departmental or institutional norms they perceived and in their sense of control over their career pathways. They all shared, however, a strong desire to successfully navigate the widening array of possibilities to achieve a range of personal and professional goals, but they often lacked the ability to align those intentions with actions related to professional development.

This study suggests that institutions may wish to rethink their positionality in the professional development of graduate students, moving away from centralized models of direct support and towards more indirect, informal and co-created means of exerting influence and building community.

Blockchains, also known as “distributed ledger technologies” (DLT) are perhaps the emerging innovation that, in the years leading up to and including 2019, is raising the highest expectations for HRM in the 4.0 business environment. In essence, a blockchain is a very specific type of database, with characteristics that made it the ideal application for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Within the context of digital- or e-HRM, there is potential to improve human resource management (HRM) processes using blockchains for employment screening, credential and educational verification, worker contracts and payments, among others, notwithstanding questions about its efficiency vis-à-vis conventional alternatives (Maurer, 2018; Zielinski, 2018). The research questions examined in this chapter include the following: What are the main characteristics of blockchains? Will they be adopted in a widespread form, specifically by HRM departments? Constructs from Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory (Rogers, 2003) are used to inform the Human Resources scholarly and practitioner communities; this robust theory may help companies allocate resources (e.g., budgets, personnel, managerial time, etc.) in an evidence-informed manner. As of this writing, very few blockchain applications, such as credential verification and incident reporting, seem to hold a strong potential for adoption.

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the challenges and employee development strategies for executives and managers when managing flexible work systems.

The paper takes an employee development perspective to discuss management strategies of flexible work systems. Research findings on the effects of work flexibility through flexible work systems, the challenges and the development strategies that executives and managers can use were reviewed from multi-level perspectives.

The flexible work system is the new normal in the workplace. Lack of social and face-to-face interactions reduces employees’ social learning, jeopardizing managerial justice and weakening the culture. To remain competitive and retain talented employees, executives should reexamine their current employee development strategies and implement new strategies that fit the characteristics of flexible work systems.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive review of employee development strategies for flexible working arrangements. The paper provides practical guidelines and insights for executives and leaders managing employees under various flexible work systems.

The need for random assignment in sexual offending programme evaluation is clear. Decades of high dependence on weak-inference methodology, that of observational studies, has inhibited professional agreement regarding the effects of programmes. Observational studies have a place in evaluation research when more rigorous scientific designs precede them, as occurs in neighbouring fields of drug development and health. If, however, observational studies remain the only method used to evaluate sexual offending programmes, the field will continue to endure uncertainty with confident causal inferences regarding their effects remaining elusive. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The paper takes the form of a literature review and discussion.

The case for random assignment is made alongside a rebuttal of arguments against their use.

This is an original look at the need for random assignment in sexual offending programme evaluation taking into account existing studies and discussion topics.

Today’s digital and mobile learning environment has contributed to the increased availability of and interest in e-textbooks, and many school systems are conducting trials to evaluate their effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze instructors’ levels of use (LoU) of e-textbook features and innovations at a southeastern US community college. This study also evaluated the effectiveness of e-textbooks compared to paper textbooks on student achievement during a pilot period of e-textbook implementation.

Using a survey research design, the LoU of the Innovation framework was applied to identify and analyze instructors’ LoU rankings for eight e-textbook features. The study also used historical data on student demographics and final course grades to evaluate student achievement between text formats. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to answer the research questions.

Results showed that e-textbook features were used at a low to non-existent level by instructors and that there was no significant difference in grade average between text formats among students. However, interactions between text format, age and gender were found.

This study added to the body of knowledge regarding e-textbook efficacy. While many studies stop with the conclusion that there is no difference in student outcomes between text formats, this study addressed a gap in literature on how to improve student performance with e-textbook technology by using the LoU of an innovation framework.

This research investigates the effects of consumers' online information searching on their dining satisfaction in upscale restaurants during the pandemic. Customers frequently rely on online sources to gather information about upscale restaurants prior to their visits.

Data from 307 diners across the top ten popular upscale restaurants in Hong Kong were analysed by using SEM to explore the links between customers' needs, information search, restaurant attributes and customer satisfaction.

This study uncovers customers' online search behaviours and identifies restaurant attributes that are associated with customer satisfaction, which were not typically emphasised before the COVID-19 pandemic. Driven by their social and psychological needs, customers devoted more time to reading written comments by other consumers compared to visual images or self-descriptions from restaurants. Only service attribute significantly influenced customer satisfaction, while food and price attributes were not significant.

The findings of this study provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners, shedding light on the altered needs and preferences of consumers following the unprecedented health crisis.

This study contributes to the development of expectancy disconfirmation theory and needs theory through the investigation of consumers' online information searching behaviours and dining satisfaction in upscale restaurants during the pandemic. By identifying the most important attributes influencing customer satisfaction, this research can aid upscale restaurants in developing effective marketing strategies and enhancing customer experiences.

Given that 45% of new businesses fail in their first five years (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020), individuals often observe others' entrepreneurial failures (EFs) in their vicinity. The purpose of this paper is to review the effects of vicarious EFs on individuals by proposing both entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial identity aspiration as mediators, which are widely studied proximal antecedents of entrepreneurial intent.

Using structural equation modeling, the authors empirically test survey data collected from 10,020 college students across 46 colleges or universities in Brazil. The hypothesized model examines the mediating effects of vicarious EFs on individuals' entrepreneurial intent via entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial identity aspiration.

The findings confirm that vicarious EFs negatively affect one's entrepreneurial self-efficacy and that entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediates the effect of vicarious EFs on one's entrepreneurial intent. On the other hand, vicarious EFs positively affect one's entrepreneurial identity aspiration, and entrepreneurial identity aspiration mediates the effect of vicarious failures on entrepreneurial intent.

The entrepreneurship literature focuses mainly on the consequences of EF on those entrepreneurs who have experienced failure. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding how that failure impacts others in its vicinity. This study provides new insight into the effects of vicarious EFs in facilitating individuals' entrepreneurial intent and presents theoretical and practical implications to promote greater levels of entrepreneurial intent in individuals.

Because student viewership of video lectures serves as an important aspect of e-learning environments, video lectures should be delivered in a way that enhances the learning experience. The delivery of video lectures through diverse forms of media is a useful approach, which may have an effect on student learning, satisfaction, engagement and interest (LSEI), as well as future behavioral intentions (FBI). Furthermore, research has shown the value that LSEI has on learner achievement within online courses, as well as its value in regards to student intention to continue learning in such courses. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between media diversity, LSEI and FBI in hopes of enhancing the e-learning experience.

This study surveyed a group of students (n = 88) who participated in cyber university classes in South Korea to investigate the correlations between media diversity and lecture viewership, effects of lecture viewership on LSEI and FBI, effects of media diversity on LSEI and FBI as well as the correlation between LSEI and FBI.

Results show no relationship between media diversity and viewership. Both lecture viewership and media diversity were positively correlated with LSEI. However, neither media diversity nor viewership was positively correlated with FBI. Finally, LSEI was positively correlated with FBI.

This paper looks at how video lectures affect LSEI. Past research has generally looked at learning, satisfaction, engagement and interest as separate entities that are affected by instructional aspects of online learning. Because of their interrelationships with each other, this study combines them as one construct, making a stronger case for their combined association.