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The purpose of this paper is to present the background to the development of the World Towns’ Framework, developed in June 2016 at the inaugural World Towns Leadership Summit in Scotland. The paper also provides an academic underpinning to the four pillars of the agreement; a unique sense of identity and place, economy, leadership and citizenship and environment. It ends with a call to action for practitioners, policymakers and organisations providing support to people in places who want to contribute to the development of the Framework and adopt it.

The paper is divided into four sections. The first section gives the background to the development of the World Towns Framework. The second section publishes the World Towns Framework in its entirety. The third section builds an evidence-base for the components or pillars of the World Towns Framework, based upon work undertaken by the think tanks and academic partners involved in its development. The final section sets out a call for action – explaining how the Framework can be further developed and utilised.

The paper contains three main contributions. It articulates a new narrative for towns, neighbourhoods and city districts in responding to contemporary urban challenges; it shapes a new urban agenda for these urban places and it asserts the need for new alliances and approaches essential for a strong competitive economy, which is more inclusive of towns and smaller places, combined with a fairer, more equal society.

The evidence base for the research is limited to the work that has been carried out by the academic institutions and think tanks that supported the development of the World Towns’ Framework.

The practical implication of the World Towns Framework are a shared understanding of how towns and smaller places can engage in management, development and marketing practices that will lead to a stronger economy and fairer society.

The focus upon place uniqueness and identity, a more equitable economy, a greener and cleaner environment and stronger place leadership and citizenship can lead to better, fairer and more liveable places.

This is the first attempt to develop a World Towns Framework to shape urban change outside of cities and metropoles.

Outlines the findings of a study into the secondary destination choices of tourists visiting the Philippines. Defines the tourist mega‐system. Looks at the framework and methodology used and attempts to link these with the holistic approach of Jafari regarding tourism structure and stages which the tourists go through.

Looks at a study into the effect of customer regulation on the performance of the import business in a developing country. Focuses on the performance of Society de Generale Surveillance (SGS) and the selection process criteria of importers relative to their foreign partner and suppliers. States that the predictive results are encouraging but much more would still depend on importers’ risk attitude to its usage.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of self‐fulfillment motivation in shaping lifestyles. Gewirth's conceptualization is delineated in which self‐fulfillment occurs when one's deepest aspirations and best capabilities are brought to fruition.

A total of 21 depth interviews were conducted in informants' homes in Sydney, Australia. Informants consisted of males in the mature end of their working life. Age ranged from 49 to 60 years. The interview guide was designed to capture multiple aspects of self‐concept, lifestyle and activities. An interpretive analytic stance was adopted drawing on the transcriptions and in‐home observations to identify systematic patterns.

Aspects of lifestyle where self‐fulfillment is experienced form focal points for lifestyle adaptation. The experience is energizing and gives meaning to life. However, the choices and direction of fulfillment satisfaction is bounded by specific aspirations and capabilities of the individual. Informants typically found fulfillment from multiples spheres encompassing work and non‐work arenas. Each sphere represents a metaphoric “magnetic point” directed by the match between deepest aspirations and best capabilities of the individual.

The use of self‐fulfillment as a tool for lifestyle analysis is illustrated. The learnings contribute understanding of the motivations behind the choice of specific lifestyle activities that an individual pursues.

This study aims to understand customer equity and loyalty using augmented reality (AR) and employee services in a physical retail environment. The current study investigated how customers’ experiences with AR-based and employee service affect their satisfaction, equity and loyalty.

A conceptual framework was developed by reviewing AR and employee services literature. The Smart PLS-SEM technique was used to test the responses of 620 Chinese respondents empirically.

The findings provided valuable insights into AR and employee services in a physical retail environment. Customers are more inclined to use AR services in the current business climate.

This study’s sample was drawn from a single city, with a total of 620 respondents, which may not be a complete representation of China as a whole. As a result, the results may not be generalizable to a single city.

Retail brand managers should emphasize implementing innovative technologies in the physical retail environment to retain and attract customers. Pandemic consumers are opting for innovative technologies as part of their shopping experience due to changes in business models.

The researchers recognized AR and employee services as innovative domains in physical retail stores because they can increase sales, customer equity and loyalty. As a result, the framework results are precious to practitioners interested in implementing such innovative technologies for retail stores.

RARELY has its sense of timing and pragmatic approach to current problems been better employed by the Industrial Society than in organizing a two‐day conference within four days of Britain's entry into the European Economic Community. The aim behind ‘Into Europe—People at Work’ was badly needed. No major policy has been so bedevilled by confusion and uncertainty as our entry, greeted with a fanfare by some and lamented by a dirge from others.

Food safety is an issue of key concern for Chinese consumers. This study identifies intrinsic and extrinsic cues on product labels or websites that Chinese consumers use to assess a product's perceived safety.

Five structured focus groups (total participants n = 41) were run in Suzhou China, in Chinese, to gather consumers' perceptions towards food safety cues.

A total of 18 safety cues were identified during the focus group discussions. Certifications, country of origin, production date and shelf life, ingredients and materials and nutritional information were the five safety cues consumers perceived to be the most important. The risks perceived by consumers differed based on: product category (e.g. meat, dairy, cereal); product form (e.g. fresh, chilled, frozen) and degree of processing. Interestingly, consumers used different food safety cues to assess a packaged product compared to the product shown on a website.

While providing deep qualitative insights into perceptions of food safety cues, further studies which seek to conduct quantitative work within a wider demographic context are encouraged.

This information will help to provide best practice advice for international marketers and government risk communicators on how and where to communicate the safety of food products so that they can maximise the effectiveness of their messaging within the appropriate information channels and thereby ensure that it resonates well with Chinese consumers.

This study contributes to the academic knowledge of consumer perceptions of cues related to food safety.

This Symposium reports on the opportunities available to those who take the initiative to introduce materials management approaches. It examines both the anticipate rates of change and development of the underlying factors as well as the organisational implications they entail. A full bibliography of recent literature is provided. The predicted developments are derived from the findings of a Delphi Study in association with the Institute of Purchasing and Supply conducted by the author in 1976.