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The purpose of this paper is to theoretically and empirically explore tourist experiences with the niche-like, yet global phenomenon of escape room attractions.

An exploratory empirical study of visitors’ experiences with selected top-rated escape rooms in the USA and Europe was carried out by means of netnographic research and automated content analysis.

The results show that this attraction provides new, peak, unique and fun experiences through the challenging activities and social component of the game play. The findings provide an insight into both the authenticity of experiences with novel attractions and the group aspects of fun and flow concepts.

The findings are restricted to online reviews on the TripAdvisor website and are possibly biased because of the use of a non-random sample.

Theoretical implications are discussed and explicated as future research questions. They are relevant for the conceptual development, research and management of playful experiences within urban and special interest tourism. Societal implications are also addressed.

This paper is a preliminary in-depth examination of the escape room phenomenon from the customer experience standpoint. It is of relevance for the conceptualisation and improvement of tourist experiences with new and fun attractions.

This paper aims to address the growth and importance of build‐to‐order (BTO) supply chains, which allow consumers and supply chain participants to select, configure, purchase and view order delivery status. The paper supports BTO as a source of critical competitive advantage to many organizations.

This paper uses an interpretivist case study research strategy that exploits multiple research methods. It presents an overview of supply chain management (including BTO‐centric approaches) and performance management and then focuses on a case study in which an aerospace components company was attempting to become a BTO enterprise. Thenceforth, the paper analyses key business drivers of using performance management systems (PeMS), and how supply chain‐oriented organizations can best leverage IT and PeMS solutions in this regard.

The case study has highlighted the need for the evaluation of PeMS implementation solutions regardless of their typology; wholly vendor‐based, best of breed or combination of vendor solution and in‐house development, but also an internal audit of processes and existing IS that would aid the implementation of such a concept. Furthermore, the intra‐ and inter‐company political/social/commercial tensions (e.g. relating to anxieties about measuring and highlighting relative business performance) need to be recognized, acknowledged in an open/honest manner and addressed in order that such tensions do not outweigh the concept justifiers which drive systems improvements. Education, ownership, responsibility, sponsorship, openness and collaboration between and amongst the supply chain participants will aid in overcoming these barriers.

This paper offers a novel insight into BTO supply chains.

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of UK fashion retailer New Look and focuses on the impact of private equity on corporate governance, employment and leverage after the public‐to‐private conversion in 2003.

This study follows a case study approach to offer in‐depth insights into the role of different parties in the deal and their perceptions. The case study is based on semi‐structured interviews with key management of New Look, partners of the private equity firms and other members of the New Look board. In addition, complements the analysis with secondary sources (e.g. analyst reports, published articles and financial data of New Look) in order to triangulate our findings.

The case presents an example of a company that pursued a public‐to‐private transaction with the support of private equity firms. The envisioned transformation process post‐transaction turned out to be highly successful with increasing efficiencies and profits as well as an increase of over 3,500 employees over four years. This paper analyses key success drivers and the role of the private equity firms in achieving this success.

The paper is the first in‐depth case study of a European public‐to‐private transaction with support of private equity that offers rich evidence on the impact of private equity on corporate governance, employment and leverage.

Senior leadership is top engagement driver ‐ Poorly‐managed change increases stress ‐ Global pay strategies on the rise.

In July 2001, a new CEO joins this small manufacturer of CD-ROMs and DVDs to discover that the firm is in the midst of a financial crisis, induced by rapid growth. The CEO asks an analyst for help with five tasks: (1) review historical performance of the firm; (2) forecast financing requirements for the next two years; (3) exercise the forecasting model to identify “key driver” assumptions; (4) estimate Star River's weighted average cost of capital; and (5) analyze a proposed investment in a packaging machine. The analyst must offer insights and recommendations based on the work. The aim of the case is to exercise students’ abilities in financial forecasting and analysis and in the analysis of capital projects. Generally, the case offers a good omnibus review of foundational tools and concepts.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of local governments in Pakistan through citizen’s satisfaction with local public service delivery in the context of the 2001 devolution plan.

Multiple-choice models are used to identify various determinants of citizen satisfaction from local governments. Demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the citizens such as age, gender, profession, education level, social status, geographical location and devolution policy (absence or presence of local government) are possible determinants of the model. While, the dependent variable is a satisfaction index constructed through exploratory factor analysis, using information obtained through a questionnaire.

The devolution policy variable is found to be statistically significant, indicating that people’s satisfaction level declined significantly when the devolution plan was rolled back. The impact of demographic and socio-economic variables on citizen satisfaction with local government is also found to be statistically significant in a majority of cases. Results indicate that people living in urban city districts are comparatively more satisfied than inhabitants of rural areas. Heterogeneity in satisfaction is found across different provinces, suggesting the need for institutional and political reforms. Moreover, people from a lower social status are more satisfied, indicating that the devolution process is in the right direction as far as reduction of income disparities is concerned.

The results suggest that there should be more provincial autonomy and national cohesion that will result in better understanding of the needs of federating units keeping the regional affiliation aside. Financial autonomy will give more resources, generate confidence and make the federating unit accountable. A decentralized set up will reduce the dependence of provinces on the center, which will allow the center to concentrate more on the national issues. However, the problem is how to materialize this and execute an efficient decentralization process in Pakistan.

This research is based on primary data collected by UNDP to conduct a social audit of local governments in Pakistan. No other research has been conducted in Pakistan to evaluate the performance of local governments using citizen satisfaction.

This research was performed with the aim of determining if the emptying of latrines in a flood‐prone urban slum area would be a sustainable and profitable business for private‐sector service providers.

Monte‐Carlo analysis was used to evaluate the economic sustainability of a proposed public‐private waste transportation service. A GIS‐assisted route analysis was also performed, with participation by private and public sector stakeholders.

The analysis also showed that if a low‐cost subscription service is implemented in the area, the commercial service providers will operate at a loss in all cases, unless changes are made in the truck fuel efficiency, the operating hours of discharge sites, and the transportation network.

The research was based on service provider operations costs extrapolated from previous studies and updated through informal interviews. A thorough and transparent review of cost accounting procedures is necessary to validate the results.

This study identified challenges and potential solutions which must be addressed by practitioners in order to ensure success of a subscription‐based service.

This study adds to the existing literature by demonstrating the applicability of an analytic modeling technique based on Monte‐Carlo simulation and provides an example of how academic research can be tightly coupled with practitioner needs in order to have a direct impact on operational humanitarian projects.

This study aims to investigate which resources and sources of support are related to employee adaptability to work-related change during the COVID-19 pandemic, with implications for human resource management (HRM).

The authors analysed a survey of 1,619 employees working in architectural practice and allied fields in Australia in 2020.

Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, the authors asked whether workers would be more adaptable to change during COVID-19 if they were able to draw on a combination or bundle of supports, known as resource caravans. Hierarchical multiple regression and relative importance analysis showed that confidence in personal support networks during the pandemic was the most important predictor assisting workers to adapt to change, followed by concrete (practical, technical) organizational support for remote work. No evidence was found to corroborate this study's hypotheses that these resources provide support in bundles, challenging the notion of resource caravans in this research context.

The authors argue that COR theory has been too broadly applied to the workplace and that boundary conditions should apply to its emphasis on resource caravans. In practical terms, HRM supports to promote employee adaptability should be carefully targeted in extreme circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which improving doctor–patient communication (DPC) can address and alleviate many healthcare delivery inefficiencies.

The authors survey causes and costs of miscommunication including perceptual gaps between how physicians believe they perform their communicative duties vs how patients feel and highlight thresholds such as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) used by hospitals to identify health outcomes and improve DPC.

The authors find that DPC correlates with better and more accurate care as well as with more satisfied patients. The authors utilize an assessment framework, doctor–patient communication assessment (DPCA), empirically measuring the effectiveness of DPC. While patient care is sometimes viewed as purely technical, there is evidence that DPC strongly predicts clinical outcomes as well as patients’ overall ratings of hospitals.

More research is needed to extend our understanding of the impact of the DPC on the overall HCAHPS ratings of hospitals. The authors think that researchers should adopt a qualitative method (e.g. content analysis) for analyzing DPC discourse.

When a sufficient amount of DPCA training is initiated, a norming procedure could be developed and a database may be employed to demonstrate training program’s efficacy, a critical factor in establishing the credibility of the measurement program and nurturing support for its use.

The authors highlight clinical and operational issues as well as costs associated with miscommunication and the need to use metrics such as HCAHPS that allow consumers to see how hospitals differ on specific characteristics.

We develop and validate measurement instruments for the business partner, watchdog, and scorekeeper roles of controllers. This study addresses calls to enhance the quality of survey research in management accounting by devoting more attention to scale development and especially to construct validity. By focusing on the activity sets of the controllers’ roles, we provide a theoretically and empirically grounded picture of their current roles. The measurement instruments presented in this study enable systematic research progress on controller roles, their relationships, antecedents, and performance outcomes.