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The purpose of this paper is to examine the coverage of identified topics that represent three key themes of change in management practice. These themes, focused on the new interconnected modern business operation, consist of: cross‐functional or process‐based working, supply networks, and systems thinking. The paper seeks to examine the coverage of these themes in operations journals as a proxy to determine how well the academic operations community is adapting to the interconnected business world.

Two separate lists compiled to rank the quality of operations journals (one based in the UK, the other in the USA) are used to structure a search for keywords representing the identified connectivity themes in the identified “top” leading operations journals to determine how well the different topics are covered. The term “operations” is intended to refer to the related specialities of both operations management and operations research.

Findings indicate overall very weak coverage of the three connectivity topics. Systems thinking was best represented. However, this representation was not in operations management journals but predominantly operations research sources. Both supply network and cross‐functional working were poorly represented as topics more generally. The implication of the findings is that the operations literature has yet to embrace key issues of connectivity and greater attention should therefore be paid to these areas to better inform business practice.

To the best of one's knowledge no such study of this type or breadth has been previously conducted.

The purpose of the paper is to adapt the SERVQUAL instrument and provide a unique analysis of service quality, value, customer satisfaction and loyalty of Singapore stock investors. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses results from a mail survey with 300 copies of a self‐administrated questionnaire utilising the SERVQUAL instrument with experienced stock investors using stockbroker (remisier) services in Singapore. Altogether, 169 useable returns (56 percent response rate) were analyzed.

Investors expect high quality service from brokers, particularly in terms of reliability. There was a 15 percent gap in service quality, and a 20 percent gap in service value. Customers who relied on brokers' advice perceived higher service quality. Brokers need more empathy with customers. SERVQUAL translated to Singapore stock broking customers with good reliability.

Results may not generalize beyond Singapore or to other financial services.

Brokers need to focus on personal, empathetic relationships with investors and aim for near perfect reliability in accurate and timely execution of customers' orders. Customers' level of expertise is important and brokers need to make more effort to educate their clients, and proactively advise them.

Service quality, customer perceived value, customer satisfaction and loyalty of customers have been important research areas in the marketing literature. Research on these variables simultaneously in stock brokerage services is limited and the study sheds light on these variables in a new field. The study provides practical advice for brokers and other financial service providers, particularly in the light of emerging credence service and commercial friends concepts in the financial services sector.

Case study research has been applied across numerous fields and provides an established methodology for exploring and understanding various research contexts. This paper aims to aid in developing methodological rigor by investigating the approaches of establishing validity and reliability.

Based on a systematic review of relevant literature, this paper catalogs the use of validity and reliability measures within academic publications between 2008 and 2018. The review analyzes case study research across 15 peer-reviewed journals (total of 1,372 articles) and highlights the application of validity and reliability measures.

The evidence of the systematic literature review suggests that validity measures appear well established and widely reported within case study–based research articles. However, measures and test procedures related to research reliability appear underrepresented within analyzed articles.

As shown by the presented results, there is a need for more significant reporting of the procedures used related to research reliability. Toward this, the features of a robust case study protocol are defined and discussed.

The Meetings, Incentive, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry has long been recognised as a sector that provides lucrative direct and indirect expenditure for host destinations. Within Australia, Federal and State governments have recognised the opportunity afforded by this sector and have put in place a number of marketing initiatives to attract MICE business to particular high profile destinations. The issue of how regional Australia might benefit from this highly attractive market is only now beginning to be addressed. This paper examines how an Australian regional university with an established reputation for the delivery of MICE‐related subjects introduced the issue of attracting MICE business to a regional area into its curriculum through the use of experiential learning. Students were given responsibility for the planning, management and delivery of a corporate‐style conference titled “Managing Conferences in Regional Areas”, while local MICE industry representatives participated in its delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze a recent US Securities and Exchange Commission Report of Investigation that concluded an investigation by the SEC Division of Enforcement into whether Netflix, Inc. and its chief executive officer violated Regulation FD through the use of the CEO's personal Facebook page to announce a company metric, and provide guidance with respect to the application of Regulation FD and the SEC's 2008 Guidance on the Use of Company Web Sites to disclosures made through social media channels.

The paper explains the background of the SEC's investigation of Netflix and its CEO, Regulation FD and the 2008 Guidance, applies the principles of Regulation FD and the 2008 Guidance to social media disclosures by public companies, and recommends compliance measures companies may wish to consider in implementing social media strategies. Key issues covered are whether a social media communication is made via a recognized channel of distribution and disseminated in a manner that makes it available to the securities marketplace in general, and whether a reasonable waiting period has elapsed to allow investors and the market to react to the communication.

While the Report of Investigation reflects the SEC's recognition of the increased use and importance of social media channels, it does not fundamentally change the regulatory framework for analyzing Regulation FD compliance set forth in the SEC's 2008 Guidance on the Use of Company Web Sites.

Companies contemplating social media use for Regulation FD purposes should apply the principles outlined in the 2008 Guidance, including informing investors of the channels they intend to use and the types of information that may be disclosed, and considering whether and when the information has been broadly disseminated, but should also consider the pros and cons of social media use from an investor relations perspective.

The paper provides expert guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.

The purpose of this paper is to increase productivity through smart maintenance planning by including productivity as one of the objectives of the maintenance organization. Therefore, the goals of the paper are to investigate existing machine criticality assessment and identify components of the criticality assessment tool to increase productivity.

An embedded multiple case study research design was adopted in this paper. Six different cases were chosen from six different production sites operated by three multi-national manufacturing companies. Data collection was carried out in the form of interviews, focus groups and archival records. More than one source of data was collected in each of the cases. The cases included different production layouts such as machining, assembly and foundry, which ensured data variety.

The main finding of the paper is a deeper understanding of how manufacturing companies assess machine criticality and plan maintenance activities. The empirical findings showed that there is a lack of trust regarding existing criticality assessment tools. As a result, necessary changes within the maintenance organizations in order to increase productivity were identified. These are technological advancements, i.e. a dynamic and data-driven approach and organizational changes, i.e. approaching with a systems perspective when performing maintenance prioritization.

Machine criticality assessment studies are rare, especially empirical research. The originality of this paper lies in the empirical research conducted on smart maintenance planning for productivity improvement. In addition, identifying the components for machine criticality assessment is equally important for research and industries to efficient planning of maintenance activities.

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the ways consumers freeze and defrost meat, the reasons for their behaviour and the knowledge they have about the process of freezing and defrosting. Consumers are aware of the microbiological safety risks involved in the consumption of meat. Therefore, many consumers freeze fresh meat to be able to store it safely for a longer period of time. In order to keep the quality of the meat, the freezing and defrosting process should follow certain basic principles.

In this explorative paper, oral interviews were held with families with young children about their habits concerning the freezing and defrosting of meat. Their knowledge about these processes and the related principles was assessed with help of multiple‐choice questions.

The paper finds that differences exist between knowledge and actual behaviour, which might result in a shortfall in the microbiological safety of the consumed meat.

Actual behaviour when freezing and defrosting was not observed in the paper, but asked for in an interview. In a larger study observations might be a useful research method to be added.

The paper shows that a discrepancy exists between knowledge and actual behaviour. It is concluded that the actual behaviour might lead to microbiological risks. This could be studied in a supplemental research.

This paper reveals that consumer education about food storage and food handling is recommended.

The aim of this paper is to propose an action-interaction-process framework to extend research on institutional entrepreneurship. The framework examines an actor's characteristics, interactions in an institutional context, and the process by which entrepreneurial action is accomplished.

Via a sociohistorical archival method of narrative analysis, the action-interaction-process framework is applied to an exemplary case of institutional entrepreneurship – the case of James Meredith and the integrationist movement at the University of Mississippi in the 1960 s.

The findings show that institutional entrepreneurs who maintain little power and influence over the institutional field must form strategic alliances to mobilize constituents and capitalize on the convergence of resources in the social setting.

Through the process of collective action, institutional entrepreneurs can overcome resistance to change and displace inequitable institutional policies, while establishing new practices and norms.

This research provides a stronger approach to examining institutional entrepreneurship and institutional entrepreneurs, the interaction between the institutional entrepreneur and the social context in which the individual operates, and the process by which inequitable institutionalized norms are reformed through collective action. This approach is useful to researchers examining institutional entrepreneurship or any area in which power disparity plays an important role.