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Reports the development and successful implementation of a computer‐integrated production and operations management system (POM), encompassing schedule activities such as aggregate production plan, master production schedule and material requirements plan, and capacity activities such as financial plan, resource requirements plan, rough‐cut capacity plan and capacity requirements plan, at the planning level. POM’s icon‐menu driven system which associates icons with decision model spreadsheets makes it very user‐friendly, and facilitates the integration of decisions encountered by industrial/ manufacturing engineers and operations managers.

Although a substantial amount of research on the effect of demographics on service quality perception can be found in the extant literature, practitioners and researchers in the built environment, especially property managers, know little or nothing about the influence of demographic characteristics on service quality in Nigeria. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of demographic variables of the occupiers of shopping complexes on the perception of service quality of property managers.

Primary data were used for the study through questionnaire administration. Ibadan was stratified into five axes using existing major roads where shopping complexes were highly concentrated. Based on the Oyo State Ministry of Land, Housing and Survey (2017) database, there were 33, 65, 48, 64 and 66 shopping complexes on each identified major road. A systematic sampling technique was adopted to select 57 (20 per cent) out of 276 shopping complexes and 192 (10 per cent) out of 1,919 occupiers of the shopping complexes in the study area. In total, 157 occupiers responded to the questionnaire, and data were analysed using mean, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA.

The study found that the gender and education of the occupiers significantly influenced service quality perception, whereas the age of the respondents was insignificant. Specifically, female occupiers rated the service quality of property managers better than their male counterparts. Through η², the effect size of gender on service quality perception was small (17 per cent) and effect size on the level education of the occupiers was also small (13 per cent). The age of occupiers did not significantly influence service quality perception. It is expected that the findings of this study will help property managers to understand the effect of various demographic variables on service quality perception for enhanced property management practice.

The findings suggested that the property managers of shopping complex should structure their services to best accommodate occupiers’ demographics. Moreover, property managers can use the findings to guide demographic-driven marketing strategy to target and attract more tenants efficiently.

The study is one of the few studies that examined the effect of the demographic characteristics of occupiers on service quality perception that could enhance given individualised attention to occupiers.

Despite the growing trend for single-dish restaurants in the Philippines, understanding customer loyalty for this subsector is scarce in the current literature. To address such a gap, this paper aims to identify attributes and their sub-attributes that contribute to customer loyalty for single-dish restaurants.

Using the analytic hierarchy process, the priorities of these attributes in achieving customer loyalty were generated from a group of expert decision-makers. A representative case study in the Philippines with an emerging market trend for single-dish restaurants was conducted.

Findings show that “value” is the most crucial attribute in achieving customer loyalty, followed by “food” and “service” attributes, which are straightforward implications of single-dish restaurants. More strikingly, the “atmosphere” attribute ranks last in the priority list, which may mean that customers consider fancy environments with less priority when dining in these types of restaurants. In the priority sub-attributes, “dining experience” and “tastiness” came up on top of the list, with the “music” attribute ranking last. These findings are crucial inputs to inform the design of strategies that would enhance the customer base.

This study reports the first attempt to rigorously analyze single-dish restaurants, which gain little attention in the current literature, yet an emerging type of restaurant, especially in developing economies. With significant differences in many aspects of mainstream restaurants, customer loyalty attributes may be different. This paper determines the list of priority attributes and sub-attributes of customer loyalty for Philippine single-dish restaurants. Identifying these priority attributes contributes to the extant literature by offering valuable insights for relevant decision-makers in gaining competitive advantage within their market niches.

This study analyses the literature on artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for the agri-food sector. This research aims to identify the current research streams, main methodologies used, findings and results delivered, gaps and future research directions.

This study relies on 69 published contributions in the field of AI in the agri-food sector. It begins with a bibliographic coupling to map and identify the current research streams and proceeds with a systematic literature review to examine the main topics and examine the main contributions.

Six clusters were identified: (1) AI adoption and benefits, (2) AI for efficiency and productivity, (3) AI for logistics and supply chain management, (4) AI for supporting decision making process for firms and consumers, (5) AI for risk mitigation and (6) AI marketing aspects. Then, the authors propose an interpretive framework composed of three main dimensions: (1) the two sides of AI: the “hard” side concerns the technology development and application while the “soft” side regards stakeholders' acceptance of the latter; (2) level of analysis: firm and inter-firm; (3) the impact of AI on value chain activities in the agri-food sector.

This study provides interpretive insights into the extant literature on AI in the agri-food sector, paving the way for future research and inspiring practitioners of different AI approaches in a traditionally low-tech sector.

The purpose of this paper is to explain why the high quality cassava flour (HQCF) value chain in Nigeria has not performed as well as expected. The specific objectives are to: analyse important sources of uncertainty influencing HQCF value chains; explore stakeholders’ strategies to respond to uncertainty; and highlight the implications of different adaptation strategies for equity and the environment in the development of the value chain.

The authors used a conceptual framework based on complex adaptive systems to analyse the slow development of the value chain for HQCF in Nigeria, with a specific focus on how key stakeholders have adapted to uncertainty. The paper is based on information from secondary sources and grey literature. In particular, the authors have drawn heavily on project documents of the Cassava: Adding Value for Africa project (2008 to present), which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and on the authors’ experience with this project.

Policy changes; demand and supply of HQCF; availability and price of cassava roots; supply and cost of energy are major sources of uncertainty in the chain. Researchers and government have shaped the chain through technology development and policy initiatives. Farmers adapted by selling cassava to rival chains, while processors adapted by switching to rival cassava products, reducing energy costs and vertical integration. However, with uncertainties in HQCF supply, the milling industry has reserved the right to play. Vertical integration offers millers a potential solution to uncertainty in HQCF supply, but raises questions about social and environmental outcomes in the chain.

The use of the framework of complex adaptive systems helped to explain the development of the HQCF value chain in Nigeria. The authors identified sources of uncertainty that have been pivotal in restricting value chain development, including changes in policy environment, the demand for and supply of HQCF, the availability and price of cassava roots, and the availability and cost of energy for flour processing. Value chain actors have responded to these uncertainties in different ways. Analysing these responses in terms of adaptation provides useful insights into why the value chain for HQCF in Nigeria has been so slow to develop.

Recent developments suggest that the most effective strategy for the milling industry to reduce uncertainty in the HQCF value chain is through vertical integration, producing their own cassava roots and flour. This raises concerns about equity. Until now, it has been assumed that the development of the value chain for HQCF can combine both growth and equity objectives. The validity of this assumption now seems to be open to question. The extent to which these developments of HQCF value chains can combine economic growth, equity and environmental objectives, as set out in the sustainable development goals, is an open question.

The originality lies in the analysis of the development of HQCF value chains in Nigeria through the lens of complex adaptive systems, with a particular focus on uncertainty and adaptation. In order to explore adaptation, the authors employ Courtney et al.’s (1997) conceptualization of business strategy under conditions of uncertainty. They argue that organisations can assume three strategic postures in response to uncertainty and three types of actions to implement that strategy. This combination of frameworks provides a fresh means of understanding the importance of uncertainty and different actors’ strategies in the development of value chains in a developing country context.

The study aims to examine the connection between practices of total quality management (TQM) and sustainability in Malaysia food and beverages companies (FBC). Continuous process improvement, benchmarking, management leadership, human resources management, quality assurance, service design and information and analysis as TQM practices are considered and their relationship, respectively, with sustainable performance.

A survey questionnaire is administered to gather responses from 303 FBC, while 98 responses are useable and subsequently analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The results reveal that effective implementation of continuous process improvement, benchmarking, quality assurance, service design and information and analysis have positive and significant effect on sustainability.

The scope of the present study was limited to FBC in Malaysia, and a cross-sectional design was employed to examine the hypothesized relationships at a single point in time.

The proposed and developed model of this study can be employed by policy and decision makers in the industry. This model can be considered by practitioners in the industry to implement critical policies in the future.

The premises of the institutional and contingency theory are supported by re-affirming the importance of contingencies and institutions for any successful strategic practices to enhance sustainable performance by implementing TQM.

It has become accepted practice to include an evaluation alongside learning programmes that take place at work, as a means of judging their effectiveness. There is a tendency to focus such evaluations on the relevance of the intervention and the amount of learning achieved by the individual. The aim of this review is to examine existing evaluation frameworks that have been used to evaluate education interventions and, in particular, assess how these have been used and the outcomes of such activity.

A scoping review using Arskey and O’Malley’s five stage framework was undertaken to examine existing evaluation frameworks claiming to evaluate education interventions.

Forty five articles were included in the review. A majority of papers concentrate on learner satisfaction and/or learning achieved. Rarely is a structured framework mentioned, or detail of the approach to analysis cited. Typically, evaluations lacked baseline data, control groups, longitudinal observations and contextual awareness.

This review has implications for those involved in designing and evaluating work-related education programmes, as it identifies areas where evaluations need to be strengthened and recommends how existing frameworks can be combined to improve how evaluations are conducted.

This scoping review is novel in its assessment and critique of evaluation frameworks employed to evaluate work-related education programmes.