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The purpose of this paper is to report on research which has developed a new approach to capturing project‐based learning.

Action research was employed as part of a longitudinal single organization case study.

Project learning processes can be improved by using an event‐based approach to project knowledge integration that propagates duetero‐learning. The approach developed generates outputs that codify lessons learnt and promotes measurement of benefits. The event and the outputs, in effect, take the form of “boundary objects” which act as a bridge or means of translation between the participants, as well as to those who will use the learning to improve their own project practice on other projects.

The approach has only been applied within a single support services organization, but could provide a way of overcoming the considerable difficulties inherent in capturing lessons learned within project‐based environments.

The approach helps to overcome the key issues of obtaining management and staff buy‐in, and dealing with the time pressures that exist in project‐based environments. The outputs can be applied to encourage learning across projects and wider communities resulting in improved practice.

The process uses the concept of boundary objects to explain how some of the problems arising when complex abstract concepts are involved can be overcome, particularly in increasing understanding and buy‐in from the actors involved. Viewing learning events as boundary objects sees them as mediating information across project boundaries, between project practitioners and across business units. The event process can be adapted for a variety of scenarios and used by an organization or group of organizations to improve and apply learning more successfully.

The purpose of this study is to examine the significance of knowledge management as a tool for firms to adapt to an ongoing unprecedented crisis. Moreover, in considering the knowledge-based view of the firm, the study will ascertain the impacts, lessons learnt and how firms envisage their future under the current unpredictable regime from the viewpoints of firm owners/managers.

A qualitative data collection approach was selected, with face-to-face and online interviews undertaken with owners/managers of 33 firms operating in Singapore.

The data analysis reveals as many as eight dimensions pertaining to impacts, lessons learnt and the envisioned future of the firms. The relevance of knowledge management emerged, for instance, in supporting firms and staff to overcome initial challenges after the crisis became apparent. Knowledge management was also an exemplar of lessons learnt, through new knowledge development, strengthening links with consumers, through operational skilfulness and awareness, as well as in explaining how firms envision their future. These findings also underscore key tenets of the knowledge-based view of the firm.

Conceptually, the proposed dimensions stemming from the three examined research questions, together with the propositions and theoretical framework, contribute to a deeper understanding of the links between knowledge management and how firms confront a severe crisis. Empirically, the findings’ highlighted associations with knowledge management elements to illuminate how firms address the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the lessons learnt and the envisioned future of firms operating under severe crisis conditions.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a “Learning Study” program developed in Hong Kong that attempted to foster the learning of pre‐service teachers through a new, collaborative, inquiry‐based approach.

A case study is used to illustrate how and what was learnt in this way by the student teachers attending the program.

The paper explains how the Learning Study approach, with its particular structure and conceptual framework, can meet some of the critical conditions of a successful inquiry‐based approach to an initial teacher education program, as identified in the literature.

The paper also explores the challenges of the approach and its potential for development into a sound pedagogy for initial teacher education.

Narratives are useful to educate novices to learn from the past in a safe environment. For some high-risk industries, narratives for lessons learnt are costly and limited, as they are constructed from the occurrence of accidents. This paper aims to propose a new approach to facilitate narrative generation from existing narrative sources to support training and learning.

A computational narrative semi-fiction generation (CNSG) approach is proposed, and a case study was conducted in a statutory body in the construction industry in Hong Kong. Apart from measuring the learning outcomes gained by participants through the new narratives, domain experts were invited to evaluate the performance of the CNSG approach.

The performance of the CNSG approach is found to be effective in facilitating new narrative generation from existing narrative sources and to generate synthetic semi-fiction narratives to support and educate individuals to learn from past lessons. The new narratives generated by the CNSG approach help students learn and remember important things and learning points from the narratives. Domain experts agree that the validated narratives are useful for training and learning purposes.

This study presents a new narrative generation process for a high-risk industry, e.g. the construction industry. The CNSG approach incorporates the technologies of natural language processing and artificial intelligence to computationally identify narrative gaps in existing narrative sources and proposes narrative fragments to generate new semi-fiction narratives. Encouraging results were gained through the case study.

It has been suggested that, if pedagogical and learning theories are integrated into lesson and learning study, a systematic construction of pedagogical knowledge is possible (Elliott, 2012). In this Special Issue, it is reported how theory and theoretical concepts can add value to lesson and learning study. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Special Issue and explore the above concepts.

This paper presents the Special Issue papers thematically and the main issues are discussed.

Together the papers suggest that pedagogical theories and theorizing practice may contribute to the improvement of teachers’ practical knowledge and knowledge about teachers’ professional tasks and objects. Furthermore, some theories and theoretical concepts hitherto under-exploited in lesson and learning study are presented and discussed from the point of view how these might improve the quality of the studies.

As a total, this collection of papers bring out issues about the role of pedagogical and learning theories and how these could inform lesson and learning study.

This paper seeks to develop an understanding of the factors that made reforms possible and analyse the lessons that emerge from the experience. The external debt crisis allowed the reforms to be introduced, while the changed international context supported the process. The lessons learnt are that: competition in the market is desirable; marketization, in itself, is not always desirable; and the speed and sequence of change matter. The lessons not yet learnt are that: a prudent macromanagement of the economy is essential; infrastructure is of critical importance; and the role of the state in a market economy must be redefined. Some essentials, however, are forgotten. This needs correctives.

Posits that every enterprise must institutionalize its workplace learning systems and opportunities in such a way that it radiates what it has already achieved and from this moves on to realize its full potential – in short, the enterprise itself is the key. Examines in successive chapters: the individual manager and questioning insights (Q); the major systems which the enterprise uses to capture and structure its learning; a SWOT analysis of the enterprise′s total learning; action learning, its contribution to the achievement of enterprise growth, and the role of programmed knowledge (P); the Enterprise School of Management (ESM) as a phoenix of enlightenment and effectiveness rising from the ashes of traditional, less effective management training initiatives; and, finally, the practical realization of the action learning dream, as evidenced by emerging examples of successful and profitable implementation worldwide. Concludes with a selection of pertinent abstracts.

The construction industry continues to struggle to deliver a right first time culture, seeking a panacea for improvement whilst maintaining project milestones. Complex construction projects demand stringent programmes, however, (un)foreseen changes, political influences and human behaviours all have significant impacts on delivering schemes without error. Previous studies have questioned the ability of the construction industry to successfully learn from errors. A major barrier has been the sharing of sensitive data from failed outcomes. Hence, this paper investigates non-conformance on an existing scheme and suggests avenues for improvement.

A mixed-method approach was adopted whereby 1,260 non-conformance reports (NCRs) from a highways megaproject were interrogated using root cause analysis (RCA) techniques to uncover the most frequent and costly areas. This was followed by a survey to industry professionals within a tier 1 principal contractor to gain insight into their perceptions of non-conformance and rework on construction projects.

Using Pareto analysis, the authors find that materials management, workmanship (poor quality execution) and supervision issues are the most frequently occurring and costly root causes of non-conformance on a major highways scheme. Furthermore, the authors link corresponding viewpoints of two project professional groups to the posed, achieving a high degree of consensus for the areas requiring development. Lastly, the authors suggest avenues for improvement via lessons learnt. These include greater emphasis on quality culture via a strong leadership mandate, enhanced vetting of workforce competence and improving the way materials are managed by embracing technology to drive efficiency.

This paper interrogates a current highways scheme using a uniquely rich, sensitive dataset to determine how the construction sector may improve efforts to achieving right first time outcomes.

Patient safety programmes aim to make healthcare safe for both patients and health professionals. The purpose of this paper is to explore the UK’s patient safety improvement programmes over the past 15 years and explore what lessons can be learnt to improve Libyan healthcare patient safety.

Publications focusing on UK patient safety were searched in academic databases and content analysed.

Several initiatives have been undertaken over the past 15 years to improve British healthcare patient safety. Many stakeholders are involved, including regulatory and professional bodies, educational providers and non-governmental organisations. Lessons can be learnt from the British journey.

Developing a national patient safety strategy for Libya, which reflects context and needs is paramount. Above all, Libyan patient safety programmes should reference internationally approved guidelines, evidence, policy and learning from Britain’s unique experience.

This review examines patient safety improvement strategies adopted in Britain to help developing country managers to progress local strategies based on lessons learnt from Britain’s unique experience.