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This paper aims to critically evaluate the evolution of Assurance of Learning (AoL) in business education and identify gaps and responsibilities in higher institution landscapes moving into the future. This comes amidst increasing structural reforms, an increasingly digitalised world, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and wider scrutiny of graduate competencies for job readiness.

A systematic literature review comprising 27 journal articles published between 2018 and 2022 is the methodology used in this research. This approach is justified as it provides a recent synopsis of current trends on AoL and encompasses the changes over the course of the COVID-19-induced higher education landscapes.

The systematic literature review revealed a strong flavour for AoL measurement through the students' perspectives, with little emerging from faculty insights. Only six out of the 27 articles were framed in a non-English speaking background, revealing that most studies were still concentrated in a US or English environment. Also, while papers on AoL have increased in numbers from 2018 to 2022, there remains scant literature on AoL measurements related to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent digital technologies, and how these would have changed given the rapid shift to online or hybrid environments.

A comprehensive review of AoL literature from 2018 to 2022 is undertaken through Leximancer, which reveals conceptual and relational ties between core themes and concepts of interest. The findings inform business school leaders of the current state of AoL processes, by combining the views of students, faculty and managers.

In contrast to prior studies examining burnout in academic employees, this paper explores how academic employee agency mitigates burnout risks in the context of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and how this agency facilitates research productivity and influences well-being in the face of changes in learning and teaching practices.

The authors use collaborative auto-ethnography (CAE) in the higher education (HE) sector to probe how an employee productivity group supported the group's members during the pandemic.

Thematic analysis revealed four emerging themes: burnout, beneficial habits for research productivity, blocking-out-time and belonging. The authors' findings suggest that by acknowledging and legitimising employee-initiated groups, feelings of neglect can be combatted. Purposeful employee groups have the potential to create a therapeutic, safe space and, in addition to the groups' productivity intent, diminish the negative effects of a crisis on organisational effectiveness.

This paper contributes to the literature by utilising a CAE approach to provide greater insight into how academics enact agency by creating digital research workspaces, attending to the spatial dimensions of well-being especially during turbulent times.

Fashion retailing has evolved in response to opportunities and market pressures. It has been both reactive and proactive. For example, Palmer, in 2001, analyses what might be called a partnership between Canadian department stores and European couture houses in the 1950s. Her work affords a rare overview of retailing's fit with fashion design and commercial delivery systems, and is a point of departure for closely examining an earlier period (1880‐1920) in Australia. The current paper studies the leading role that department stores played in shaping the Australian fashion scene and the marketing techniques they used. A context, period and country, where a set of major retailers formed the predominant influence on fashion trends, and styles and diffusion throughout the community have been identified. Findings suggest that for the 1880‐1920 period the department store retailers were market‐driving rather than simply market‐driven, implying a more proactive and innovative role for the department stores.

Although research in franchising is currently experiencing an advancement in the investigation of behavioural attributes, the motivators and perceptions of participants within this partnership, the key variables of trust and commitment, a key to successful business relations, requires further insight. The purpose of this paper is to extend the idiosyncratic dynamics of the franchisor‐franchisee relationship and the influence of such constructs from a distance perspective. Seminal work on relationship marketing (Morgan and Hunt) forms the foundation in the development of the franchising relational dynamics model posed within this paper.

This paper adopts a qualitative, case‐based approach of four Australian retail franchises with holdings in New Zealand. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 20 franchisees to derive perceptions on trust and commitment currently experienced within the franchise relationship to inform the resultant findings.

Key findings suggest trust and commitment are limited or non‐existent within franchise systems if the provision of consistent, transparent communication is absent or minimal, increasing the propensity for dysfunctional agent‐based behaviour. Three major antecedents for success of a franchise system exist: goal congruence, organisational culture, and communication. Minimal levels of commitment and trust exist where distance affects the stated antecedents.

This research is exploratory with the findings providing an imperative for further investigation in the management of human factors within franchise systems as opposed to transactional‐based foci in many current studies. Theoretical development adopting a relationship marketing focus from a distance perspective rather than the transaction‐based approach of a single country adds to existing research. This paper is limited to analysis of franchisees' perceptions. Future research should look at both franchisor and franchisee perspectives.

Research of perceptions of individual franchisees, trust and commitment within the franchise relationship is limited within the Asia‐Pacific region. Findings of possible dynamic differences in the franchisor/franchisee dyad provide initial evidence advancing and informing both academic and managerial practice.

The purpose of this research is to identify the critical determinants of a franchisee’s trust in their franchisor.

A qualitative approach was used, and 30 interviews were conducted with franchising participants. The first phase of the research consisted of exploratory interviews with franchising experts (franchise lawyers, accountants, consultants, mediators and bankers), and the second phase consisted of semi-structured interviews with franchisees and franchisors across two franchise systems.

The research revealed five critical determinants of a franchisee’s trust in their franchisor: franchisee’s engagement in the system, franchisee’s confidence in the system, franchisee’s perception of a strong team culture, franchisee’s perception of franchisor competence and franchisee’s perception of franchisor character.

The research provides insight into how the aforementioned components can be developed within a franchise system to build franchisee trust. The paper also concludes with four practical recommendations that can be integrated within a franchise system to increase levels of franchisee trust.

This research builds on prior research into franchisee trust, providing an original contribution to the literature through the development of a practical model, showcasing critical determinants of a franchisee’s trust in their franchisor.

The SAPPHO Project (Scientific Activity Predictor from Patterns with Heuristic Origins) was launched in 1968, with a grant from the Science Research Council, as a study of success and failure in industrial innovation. Two facts are worth emphasizing in introducing the project briefly. The first is that it had been noted by a number of researchers that, in introducing new products and processes to the market, there is a high failure rate. It varies from 60 to 90 per cent, depending on the sector of industry and the nature of the market. The second fact is allied to this. Innovations appear to happen in clusters, very seldom in isolation. Thus, when the world market for a particular chemical expands and forces up its price, several firms in the industry will encourage research into cost reducing or quantity increasing processes. Of this group of innovating firms, one or two will succeed commercially with a process, others will succeed technologically but not commercially, and some will fail on both counts.

The purpose of the study is to illustrate the advantages for firms who build local supplier and customer relationships whenever possible.

A case study of a US petrochemical firm is used along with a discussion of Porter's economic cluster theory.

The firm outsourced two raw materials first to a firm about 200 miles away and then to a firm that built a plant across the street. By sourcing to a co‐located firm the company reduced its costs by $280,000 per year while simultaneously increasing quality by 6.5 per cent, reducing lead‐time by seven to ten days, and reducing raw material inventory from 800 tons to 30 tons.

As with all case studies, care must be taken when generalizing the findings of this study. This article provides empirical evidence that supports Porter's economic cluster theory.

Managers are reminded that even in the age of the global business environment, there is still practical value in constructing local supply chains. Government officials who are in charge of economic development are shown the value of targeting clusters of economic activity.

This article provides empirical evidence that supports Porter's economic cluster theory and has practical implications for managers and government officials.

The overwhelming rise of leadership learning programs and experiences within higher education merits the exploration and identification of best practices, reduction of limiting educational methodologies, and strategies for promoting efficient and effective leadership education has never been greater. This study explores the barriers inherent to leadership learning environments from the learner, environmental, and instructor perspectives. Qualitative interviews of leadership faculty members allowed for naturalistic themes to emerge. The transferable findings suggest that best teaching practices, including positive student-instructor relationships, critical reflection, adaptive leadership application within real-world settings, will have profound implications on the ever-growing field of leadership education and the development of the leadership learner.