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The purpose of this paper is to report the results of using the framework in the field for the purpose of formulating knowledge policies. The framework derives from a conceptual model for analyzing knowledge development overviewed by the authors in a previous paper.

The paper uses the conceptual framework of 13 dimensions for knowledge policy‐making analysis and qualitative focus group discussions by means of what is known as a knowledge SWOT analysis. Such an exercise ordinarily determines what is termed as net strength (strengths offset by weaknesses) and net opportunity (opportunities offset by threats).

The field research suggests that, whereas quantitative indicators are very commonly used for the purpose of benchmarking and progress tracking, they are limited in terms of determining causes, effects and encapsulating good practices. The present framework provides a means for policy‐makers and analysts to engage in discussion, debates, story‐telling and scenario building in order to understand net strengths and opportunities.

The research is limited by the time constraints of the focus group participants and it is not feasible to conduct a K‐SWOT of more than the four societies used for the reason that there are insufficient numbers of informed participants.

Developing the knowledge economy has to be more than a management of socio‐economic indicators. Understanding the net strength and opportunity faced by a society in the context of a global knowledge economy allowed insights into gaps that may be addressed with appropriate knowledge policies. There is much work to be done in formulating implementable policy recommendations.

It is hoped that a useful and valid policy analysis tool for knowledge development has thus been described.

The research reported in this ongoing study aims to investigate the notion of knowledge assets developed within digital communities in the course of their economic or leisure activities. Ideally, the resulting knowledge is universal, affordable and relevant; this inclusiveness is a hallmark of any information or knowledge society.

The authors first synthesize the related research literature covering the areas of knowledge‐based economies, knowledge societies and knowledge policies. A model using 13 dimensions is then developed, which the authors claim is critical for creating a knowledge community in the digital economy. The model is validated against critique from a Delphi panel of researchers in the area.

While creating a knowledge society encompasses dimensions pertaining to infrastructure, governance, talent and culture, intangible assets are key to sustaining such societies. Governance and culture are instances of such intangibles. Talent may seem to be tangible but the human capacity for learning and development, which leads to an innovative culture, is less so. In any case, time is the essential ingredient for a knowledge culture to come about.

Knowledge societies are not measurable constructs that can be described quantitatively and benchmarked with weighted summations of scores along prescribed dimensions. It would be a fallacy to treat the notion of a knowledge index as a socio‐economic measure of success.

. conclude with a practical view of how the dimensions may be best exploited in the course of a policy discussion on sustainable knowledge societies.

It is hoped that the research will provide a framework for policy makers and analysts to conduct qualitative discussions on creating and sustaining knowledge societies.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework describing teachers’ affective and cognitive thought processes, as well as the sensemaking and decision making ongoing within them, during the various stages of the appropriation of an educational innovation.

The Rubicon model of action phases, borrowed from psychology, is first used as a lens to understand teachers’ will. The model is subsequently adapted to reconcile it with existing literature on teacher beliefs, teacher sensemaking, and teachers’ resistance.

The proposed framework shows that teachers’ appropriation of an educational innovation is multi-layered and multi-dimensional. This contradicts appropriation as simply a procedural implementation of research recommendations, culminating in only success or failure.

The paper sensitises policymakers, school leaders, and teacher educators to the complexity of the appropriation process. The proposed framework serves as a starting point for school and reform leaders, to re-examine their school’s implementation of an educational innovation from a more human relations perspective.

This study aims to study the attitude toward purchasing luxury fashion of young consumers based on an extended model that integrates the constructs of the theory of reasoned action (TRA), identity theory, social identity theory, affect–behavior–cognition (ABC) model of attitude and brand attractiveness.

A purposive sampling approach was used to collect data from 237 young luxury fashion consumers in Hong Kong. Results were analyzed using partial least square.

The findings revealed that self-identity predicts affect-based attitudes (i.e. passive engagement and active engagement), and social identity predicts cognition-based attitude (i.e. attitude toward celebrity endorsement). Moreover, both affect- and cognition-based attitudes were found to be antecedents that enhanced brand attractiveness, which in turn positively affected purchase intention.

This study collected data from Generation Z. Although this generation is the world’s most influential consumer group and is highly engaged in social media, the findings may not be representative of the entire population in Hong Kong. Therefore, the findings should be used cautiously in the whole luxury fashion industry.

This study extends the understanding of luxury fashion purchase intention from TRA to the connection among identity, social identity theories and ABC model of attitude and brand attractiveness. The findings of this study also contribute to practical insights on developing suitable marketing strategies for the Asian luxury fashion market.

Discusses US use of drug testing in the workplace, screening employees for smoking, AIDS, genetic traits and reproductive hazards. Attributes this to the costs employers face in insurance, litigation and compensation. Points out that the purpose of drug testing is to circumvent management responsibility for: accidents in the workplace, stress, bad management practices, and disregarding health and safety initiatives. Acknowledges that the tests are harmful and indefensible. Reports that 81 per cent of members of the American Management Association in 1996 conducted drug testing. Claims that screening is the alternative to monitoring – that is screening out individuals who are seen as high risk in some way – yet that misses the point – the focus should be on making hazardous working conditions safe. Indicates that companies may use drug testing as a means of deterring drug users from gravitating towards their organization. Mentions that workplace‐induced stress can lead to substance abuse and that, therefore it is management driven, rather than being a problem the worker brings to the workplace. Quotes a number of company physicians who object to policing drug use. Indicates that drug testing has diverted attention away from health and safety issues and hazardous working conditions.

This study examines academic librarians' perceptions and attitudes toward Internet of Things (IoT) applications in Hong Kong academic libraries and the problems and possible improvements in using IoT technologies to strengthen library services.

This qualitative research used video conferencing software for semi-structured, one-on-one interviews. Participants were given introductory material about the IoT and asked to complete an interview. The data were analyzed using inductive theme clustering for this study.

The analysis identified three themes: perception about applying IoT technology to the library, problems and improvements in using IoT. Participants were generally optimistic about the potential benefits of IoT for improving library operations and providing personalized services. However, they also expressed concerns about privacy and security, errors and extra efforts for information literacy training. They suggested improvements such as incorporating facial recognition technology, advanced RFID technology and collections identification technology to enhance user experience.

Most studies examined users' views rather than librarians' on IoT applications, which few studies cover, especially in East Asia.

Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) support community living for three million disabled people in the United States. As a state-federal partnership, these programs are highly variable across states. Because eligibility determination and services differ from state to state, this Medicaid structure becomes a barrier for those HCBS users whose desired futures include cross-state moves.

I examine narratives of citizenship and personhood for Medicaid HCBS users circulating within policy arenas and explore tensions between these and the stories Medicaid HCBS users tell of their own lives. Specifically, I explore the degree to which narratives about Medicaid HCBS users include an affirmation of the right to cross-state movement. My analysis includes data from public statements from policy makers, legislative texts, organizational framings of Medicaid policy, and 18 semi-structured interviews with Medicaid PCA users who desired or pursued cross-state moves.

I conclude that institutional narratives of Medicaid HCBS users are an inadequate representation of the stories told by those who rely on this program and, in consequence, programs stemming from policy fail to offer services that would allow service recipients to pursue their objectives.

Medicaid HCBS policy is part of a broader story of disability rights progress over the last four decades, making its role as an obstacle to cross-state movement a bit of a paradox. This paradox points to the value of narrative analysis in calling attention to invisible contradictions and the need for institutional and organizational change.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate contagion between real estate investment trusts (REITs) within and across three geographical regions: North America, Europe and Asia‐Pacific. The paper also examines excess comovement between the considered national REIT markets on the one hand, and broad equity indices on the other. In particular, the authors are interested in contagion between the considered markets during the 2007‐2009 GFC period in comparison to the entire 2004‐2011 sample period.

Using an international factor pricing framework similar to Bekaert, Harvey and Ng, the paper defines contagion as excess comovement between two financial markets, after removing the effects of the underlying economic fundamentals, i.e. risk factors, and time‐changing volatility. Controlling for economic factors is important for distinguishing between pure contagion and information spillovers, which may transmit through existing economic channels. The authors then analyse excess correlations between the derived standardized residuals, for REITS and equity markets in order to investigate excess comovement between the indices during the whole sample and GFC period.

The paper finds no evidence of excess comovement between the considered REIT and equity indices during non‐crisis sample intervals. However, the paper finds contagion between several national REITs and regional or global equity markets during the GFC period. The paper reports statistically significant excess correlations between national REITs and regional and world real estate markets during the entire sample period, while there is only limited evidence to suggest that the correlation amongst REIT markets has increased during the GFC period. The paper concludes that a similar degree of dependence persisted among national REIT markets over the crisis and non‐crisis sample periods for most markets.

Despite the ongoing debate on contagion in financial markets, there is only a small body of literature investigating contagion specifically for property or real estate markets. This is even more surprising, since the GFC originated from a subprime mortgage crisis and was, therefore, heavily related to real estate. The paper extends the literature by testing for contagion between REITs considering eleven national markets across three geographical regions. In contrast, the existing literature is typically constrained to a significantly smaller number of markets. The paper also explicitly takes into account the impact of the recent GFC, and tests for contagion over this period.