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The purpose of this paper is to reveal how managers of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can utilise their participation in research-based training to enable innovation and growth.

Action research and action learning from a longitudinal study of ten SME managers in the wind turbine industry are applied to reveal SME managers’ learning and the impact of the application of learning in the wind turbine industry.

The findings of this study show that SME managers employ a practice-shaped, holistic, cross-disciplinary approach to learning. This learning approach is supported by theory dissemination and collaboration on perceived business challenges. Open-mindedness to new learning by SME managers and to cross-disciplinary collaboration with SME managers by university facilitators/researchers is required.

The research is conducted within the wind turbine industry, in which intense demands for innovation are pursued. The findings require verification in other industry contexts.

This research contributes strategies for SME managers to utilise research-based training and for universities regarding how to work with SME training. In addition, public bodies can enhance their understanding of SMEs for innovation and growth. The learning approach that is suitable for specialisation in larger organisations is not suitable in the SME context.

SME learning is enhanced by a social approach to integrating essential large-scale industry players and other SME managers to create extended action and value from learning.

The findings reveal the need for extended theory development for and a markedly different approach to SME training from that used for training managers in larger companies. This topic has received only limited attention in previous research.

The growth of logistics departments in colleges and universities has been unprecedented in the past ten years. In response to this demand, schools expanded their programs to accommodate more students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. While schools have typically structured their logistics departments differently, they, for the most part, failed to develop their programs to more accurately reflect the multi‐disciplinary nature of supply‐chain management. The article examines the structures of logistics departments against the backdrop of teaching supply‐chain management. Strengths and weaknesses of the structures are identified with a series of recommendations set forth to help schools cope with the increased enrollments and the dynamics of the logistics field.

This editorial introduces a special issue of the Journal of Services Marketing, dedicated to papers discussing the effect of the physical context on customer experience. This study aims to identify diverse areas of extant knowledge, upon which researchers might draw when investigating the effect of the physical context on customer experience, to inform future research agendas.

Drawing on available literature, the authors argue that, as prior studies in diverse scholarly fields have explored the physical context, these bodies of knowledge may offer theories and constructs that meaningfully inform explorations of the effect of the physical context on customer experience.

The authors identify five marketing subdisciplines and six nonmarketing disciplines, each offering theories, constructs and perspectives which researchers might draw upon in future studies of the effects of the physical context on customer experience.

The authors develop a novel map which depicts the field of study of the effects of the physical context on customer experience, which scholars might use to inform future research design. In addition, the authors suggest several directions for future research.

Recruitment for pediatric non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) studies is often challenged by low enrollment. Understanding parental perceptions regarding NIBS is crucial to develop new communication strategies to increase enrollment.

Integrating a crossed-disciplinary approach, the authors conducted a survey at the 2018 Minnesota State Fair querying the perception of risk and preferences of current and future parents associated with pediatric NIBS research. The survey consisted of 28 closed-text questions including demographics, photographs portraying NIBS, terminologies and factors related to NIBS studies.

Complete surveys were analyzed from 622 parent participants. A significant number of participants (42.8%) perceived the photographs of NIBS as “risky.” Additionally, 65.43% perceived the term “Non-invasive brain therapy” as not risky, a word combination not currently being used when recruiting potential participants. Over 90% (561/622) of participants chose the photograph of child-friendly MRI suite.

Although this survey identified aspects crucial in recruitment for pediatric NIBS research, there were limitations. For example, the authors did not record the sex or demographic distribution (e.g. rural versus urban setting) of the participants. These factors may also influence recruitment messaging.

For important medical research to impact and improve the lives of the potential remedies, participation by the public in clinical trials is necessary. Often the general public perceives the trials as risky as a result of poor marketing communication recruitment material. This study sought to be understood if how the message is encoded has an impact on the decoding by the receiver.

The Leap Motion represents a new generation of depth sensing cameras designed for close range tracking of hands and fingers, operating with minimal latency and high spatial precision (0.01 mm). The purpose of this paper is to develop virtual reality (VR) simulations of three well-known hand-based rehabilitation tasks using a commercial game engine and utilising a Leap camera as the primary mode of interaction. The authors present results from an initial evaluation by professional clinicians of these VR simulations for use in their hand and finger physical therapy practice.

A cross-disciplinary team of researchers collaborated with a local software company to create three dimension interactive simulations of three hand focused rehabilitation tasks: Cotton Balls, Stacking Blocks, and the Nine Hole Peg Test. These simulations were presented to a group of eight physiotherapists and occupational therapists (n=8) based in the Regional Acquired Brain Injury Unit, Belfast Health, and Social Care Trust for evaluation. After induction, the clinicians attempted the tasks presented and provided feedback by filling out a questionnaire.

Results from questionnaires (using a Likert scale 1-7, where 1 was the most favourable response) revealed a positive response to the simulations with an overall mean score across all questions equal to 2.59. Clinicians indicated that the system contained tasks that were easy to understand (mean score 1.88), and though it took several attempts to become competent, they predicted that they would improve with practice (mean score 2.25). In general, clinicians thought the prototypes provided a good illustration of the tasks required in their practice (mean score 2.38) and that patients would likely be motivated to use the system (mean score 2.38), especially young patients (mean score 1.63), and in the home environment (mean score 2.5).

Cameras offer an unobtrusive and low maintenance approach to tracking user motion in VR therapy in comparison to methods based on wearable technologies. This paper presents positive results from an evaluation of the new Leap Motion camera for input control of VR simulations or games. This mode of interaction provides a low cost, easy to use, high-resolution system for tracking fingers and hands, and has great potential for home-based physical therapies, particularly for young people.

The purpose of this paper is to propose future directions for research into stories and metaphors as concise communication tools that are particularly salient for the fast pace of today’s retail sales environment.

A cross disciplinary approach is taken to propose new avenues for sales communication research.

This work highlights research possibilities into the contextually sensitive constructs of stories and metaphors with associated theoretical approaches. This could improve research into stories and metaphors as communication techniques for retail selling.

The findings indicate that stories and metaphors are highly engaging sensemaking tools that salespeople can use in retail sales encounters. The lack of existing literature within the sales domain suggests a significant learning curve in demarcating the use of these tools.

Stories and metaphors are presently used by salespeople but without the benefit of extensive scientific understanding. This paper builds a foundation for research that could bring clarity to the use of these tools in retail selling.

Researchers will benefit from a finer grained conceptualization with which to examine sales communication. The proposed research should get sales practitioners a clearer understanding of using stories and metaphors in sales encounters.

To examine whether upstream firms in the food chain are knowledgeable about end‐users or consumers and to identify factors that might influence their acquisition of such knowledge.

A cross‐disciplinary approach is used to gain theoretical insights into the research questions. Consumer knowledge and influencing factors are revealed through an empirical study of producer and exporter firms in the Norwegian salmon farming industry. The study focuses on managerial knowledge of how consumers perceive the importance of the colour and texture of flesh and the fat content of salmon.

A relatively large proportion of the managers are not knowledgeable about consumers' quality perceptions. Closeness to consumers in the form of sales to the respective markets, or downstream location in the food chain, do not appear to improve knowledge. A differentiation strategy is not associated with more accurate consumer knowledge.

The study focuses on knowledge of a limited aspect of consumers' quality evaluation only and important chain actors such as retailers were not included in the study. Upstream firms pursuing a quality‐based differentiation strategy must take into account the fact that not all consumers are willing to pay a price premium for high quality, and that those who do might use surrogate indicators to infer quality.

The paper addresses the important but little researched area of distribution of end‐user knowledge in the food chain. It investigates reasons why and when upstream actors will benefit from end‐user knowledge.

This paper offers design cybernetics as a theoretical common ground to bridge diverging approaches to design as they frequently occur in collaborative design projects. Focusing on the education of architects and structural engineers in China, the paper examines how compatible approaches to design can be established in both disciplines.

The paper analyses relevant literature as well as observations from Chinese practice and academia. Design cybernetics is introduced and examined as a basis for establishing shared narratives to support cross-disciplinary collaborations involving architects and structural engineers.

Design cybernetics offers a body of vocabulary and a rich resource of strategies to address applied designing across design-oriented disciplines such as architecture and science-based disciplines such as structural engineering. The meta perspective of design cybernetics also provides a basis for the implementation of pedagogy supporting cross-disciplinary collaboration in applied design.

The scope of the paper is limited to the examination of the theoretical framing as well as the implementation of pedagogy in the cultural and geographical context of China.

The paper outlines several design cybernetic strategies for pedagogy in support of cross-disciplinary collaborative design processes and illustrates their implementation in applied design education.

Addressing a significant and persistent gap between the two disciplines of architecture and structural engineering in the context of Chinese building practice, this paper examines the particularities of this context and presents an educational approach to support cross-disciplinary collaboration that has value in and beyond the context of China.

The purpose of this study is to investigate librarians’ involvement in cross-disciplinary research and its implication in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) with the aid of five research questions. This is in a bid to integrate librarians into cross-disciplinary research, and a stride toward embedded librarianship.

Survey research design was used to gather data from an online group of library personnel with the aid of the questionnaire link posted on the platform. Palinkas et al. (2013) justified the use of purposeful sampling technique, while Yamane (1967) justified the use of 66 copies of questionnaire retrieved from the 1,562 population of action and inactive online members of the platform, which was subjected to descriptive statistics.

Librarians have high level of knowledge in possible aspects of cross-disciplinary research, which they have been previously involved in. Cross-disciplinary research is a means to achieving SDGs because it provides a basis for the understanding of SDGs and its actualization. Therefore, librarians being equipped to engage in cross-disciplinary research will contribute more to the global development agenda.

The study seems to exhibit a weak power of generalization due to the purposeful sampling technique adopted for the study, been an online survey and the ±10 per cent precision level in determining the sample size. This should be taken into consideration for further study.

The study has implication for librarians in Nigeria in achieving sustainable development through cross-disciplinary research. While librarians engaged in research within the ambit of library and information science, this study proposes the need for them to extend their research knowledge and skills into other disciplines for greater impact in line with achieving the global development agenda.

This study is a stride toward embedded librarianship which reflects the need for librarians to participate in cross-disciplinary research, learning new skills and taking up new roles in research process.