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In vernacular buildings, many climatic and passive solutions have been used to create indoor thermal comfort. Seasonal occupant movement is an example of a traditional response to increasing thermal comfort. This article investigates the influence of these user behaviours on thermal comfort in courtyard houses.

Parametric models of three different scenarios of courtyard houses are simulated. The courtyard houses are located in Shiraz, Iran, and share the same orientation and construction materials. To enhance the accuracy of the study, the indoor adaptive thermal comfort (ATC) analysis is performed with three different window-to-wall ratios (WWR) of 25, 50 and 75%. The ACT analysis is performed on an hourly basis for summer and winter scenarios.

The results demonstrate that the indoor ATC is 8.3% higher in winter than in the summer in the seasonal zones. During the summer, the amount of ATC is relatively sustained in all zones. Unlike common beliefs, seasonal movement can enhance the ATC, especially during winter, specifically in the northern part of the courtyard. In northern zones, the seasonal movement of occupants improves the indoor ATC from 10.1 to 23.7%, and in southern zones, the improvement is from 2.2 to 4.8%.

This research presents a new numerical investigation into occupants' seasonal movements in courtyard houses during summer and winter. It provides a precise pattern to show how much this seasonal movement can affect the habitant's ATC.

This chapter discusses the use of an extended stage model for the evaluation of the adoption of e-business in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Empirical studies of e-business adoption are rare in Middle Eastern and developing countries and the chapter provides valuable insight into this region, by presenting an account of the use of the extended stage model to explore the level of e-business adoption among Yemeni SMEs.

In making this examination, the challenges and opportunities that accompany e-business adoption are revealed. The internal drivers and barriers, such as finance and skills, are recognised along with the external factors that include infrastructure and legislation. It also provides valuable insight into the macro-level sociopolitical determinants of e-business adoption that have not previously been appreciated; the study was undertaken during the Yemen Civil War in 2016.

Current adoption models imply that organisations adopt technologies in a linear fashion, gradually increasing complexity and capability. This study makes an important contribution by recognising that there are multiple points at which SMEs may ‘enter’ the technology-adoption ladder.

Knight's Industrial Law Reports goes into a new style and format as Managerial Law This issue of KILR is restyled Managerial Law and it now appears on a continuous updating basis rather than as a monthly routine affair.

THIS issue of The Library World marks the commencement of a new volume, and we take the opportunity of thanking our many readers for their continued good feeling and support. It is a pleasure to us to record the fact that we are able to enlarge this initial number of the volume and that we feel the time has come when we shall make such enlargement a permanency, without any corresponding increase in the subscription price.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

The purpose of this study is to examine the use of the strategic management tool, Strengths‐Weaknesses‐Opportunities‐Threats or SWOT analysis, and to assess how the methodology has been used as well as changes to the methodology. The findings both for and against SWOT analysis should lead to a balanced view of the technique as well as yield ideas for needed theory building.

Using the ABInform Global® database, academic peer‐reviewed articles were compiled indicating SWOT as one of the article's key index and search words.

The use of SWOT analysis continues to permeate the academic peer‐reviewed literature. Research supports SWOT analysis as a tool for planning purposes. Over the past decade, SWOT research has focused on analyzing organizations for recommended strategic actions. As a methodology for strategic positioning, SWOT analysis has been extended beyond companies to countries and industries and is used in virtually every published business case positioned for business student analysis. Additional use of SWOT is as teaching tools by consultants, trainers and educators. This paper provides a summary of the research studies and suggests paths for future research.

This paper is limited to analyzing reports found in a selection of academic peer‐reviewed business journals. However, research implications for applying SWOT analysis provides a broad spectrum of industry analysis in North America, Europe, and Asia. Additional limitations are the need to link SWOT analysis to other strategic tools and methodologies for further theory building, since past research continues to lack quantifiable findings on the success of the SWOT analysis.

A fresh view of new directions and implementations for SWOT analysis, as well as other strategic planning tools that can be combined with SWOT, provides guidance for practitioners and policy makers alike.

The article adds value to the existing literature as the first summary of SWOT research indicating its uses and limitations. Support of its usage and place in the strategic literature is validated. The SWOT methodology is pervasive, in large part, due to its simplicity. In addition, the use of SWOT as a proven developmental, results‐oriented strategic planning tool is also extended, although further research leading to theory building is warranted and recommended.

Before the appearance of our next issue, the Annual Meeting of the Library Association will have taken place. In many ways, as indicated last month, it will be an interesting meeting, largely because it is in the nature of an experiment. International conditions, the state of national and municipal finance, the absence of library workers with the colours, and the omission of social events, all tend to influence its character. It is possible, however, that these very circumstances may increase the interest in the actual conference business, especially as the programme bears largely upon the War. The programme itself is formidable, and it will be interesting to see how the section on the literature of the war, for example, will be treated. Probably the Publications' Committee have in mind the book symposia which are a feature of the meetings of various library associations in the United States. These consist of a few minutes' characterisation, by an opener, of a certain book or type of literature, and a discussion after it. The experiment was attempted in London last year at one of the monthly meetings, but owing to a misapprehension the speaker gave an excellent lecture on Francis Thompson of more than an hour's duration, when he had been expected to give a brief description of Francis Meynell's biography of that poet. If any gatherings for a similar purpose are arranged, we hope the speakers will be primed sufficiently to avoid that error. As for social events, their omission is less likely to be felt in London than anywhere else in the Kingdom. London is a perennial source of social amusement in itself, and the evenings can readily be filled there—“chacun à son goût”—really better than by attending pre‐arranged gatherings.

One would not commonly associate democracy with Singapore, instead scholars have often described Singapore as an illiberal democracy and an authoritarian state. At the same time, all Singaporean school students recite the national pledge of allegiance in school every morning, in which they pledge “to build a democratic society based on justice and equality”. What do students know about democracy? Are they able to distinguish the characteristics of democratic systems from non-democratic ones? The purpose of this paper is to report on Singapore students’ understandings of democracy.

Using a qualitative instrumental case study design, 64 students from three secondary schools were interviewed and the social studies curriculum was analysed.

Overall, students had poor knowledge of democracy. Consistent with a lack of knowledge of democracy, most students also showed a relatively uncritical acceptance of hierarchy and deference to authority, and held a superficial understanding of citizenship. Civics lessons through social studies, and the school environment did little to promote students’ engagement with democracy.

The authors argue that it is important that students be given the opportunities to develop a basic conceptual knowledge of democracy, as they are not capable of discriminating democratic characteristics from non-democratic ones without it. At the very least, students should know the relevance of what they pledge relative to their nation’s model of democracy, or in the absence of a clear model, be encouraged to struggle with the various existing models of democracies so that, as the future of Singapore, they might determine and adapt the ideals that they deem best for the nation.

This paper is an original study of Singapore students’ understandings of democracy.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have found their development obstructed and in some cases paralysed. Young professionals have had to learn to adapt to this new environment, and they have also lost opportunities to enter the labour market. The main objective of this study is to measure the effectiveness of tools based on experiential learning, such as outdoor training accompanied by mindfulness, in improving the emotional skills of young Asian professionals and, potentially, help them break down the barriers of their environment. It also compares the findings with the young Asian professionals with young European professionals.

This study replicates the one used in the first study, in which the data were first compiled using a closed-ended questionnaire during an outdoor training and mindfulness. A sample of 46 Asian and 49 young European professionals completed a series of outdoor training sessions. The participants provided their self-assessments of their own emotional competencies. Pre- and post-sessions questionnaires were used to measure competencies of emotional intelligence among young professionals who have just finished their studies, as the current educational system was found to require young people to develop professional skills that they will need in employment in the near future.

The results show that outdoor training had a greater effect on the young Asian professionals than on their European counterparts, overall, and particularly in Teamwork competence. Finally, this tool was positively received in both segments.

One limitation of this study is that the Asian participants felt reserved when participating. Their cultural model includes a vision, education and politics that differ so much from European culture that it could have led to difficulties. They are not used to close contact with others or working as a team, and their character is more individualistic and independent (Hu, 2002). A second limitation is that (apart from the pre-activity questionnaire) the degree of cultural difference is not measured quantitatively but is based on a review of the literature and previous findings.

The research provides an underlying finding that addresses how the emotional competencies in demand could be developed at a more globalised level after a post-pandemic environment.

Very few studies have quantitatively confirmed its effectiveness, which is difficult, given the subjective nature of evaluation (Padilla-Melé ndez et al., 2014). Authors such as Barner (1989), Huszczo (1990), Lusher (1990), Bailey (1990), Fulmer (1992), Irvine and Wilson (1994) and Wagner and Campbell (1994) mention studies which implemented an outdoor training programme, but few studies attempt an objective evaluation. This study uses these tools in the Asian environment, after their application and confirmation of their measurability in Europe.

It has been discovered that some results published in studies may not be correct because different researchers using the same dataset and analytical methods were unable to create the same results. This dilemma is called the reproducibility crisis. Currently, there has not been a comprehensive examination of the possible existence of this crisis in the field of autism spectrum research. This chapter does not answer the question, ‘Is there a reproducibility crisis occurring in the field of autism spectrum research?’ Rather, it contains an outline of this crisis, explains some of the most influential factors that have contributed to its development and how scholars who study the autism spectrum can change their research practices so that this crisis does not develop.

The original contribution that this chapter makes to autism spectrum research is to explain how some solutions to the reproducibility crisis can be implemented into the field of autism spectrum research.