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The article brings the quality characteristics of action research to project management and explores how these quality characteristics of well-designed and executed action research can inform and enhance the practice of project management.

A reflective paper.

The article identifies five imperatives in bringing together action research and project management. The authors argue that project management may be conducted in a manner that is rigorous, reflective and relevant.

The integration of project management and action research is not empirically described. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test and further develop the model in relation to the design and management of projects.

Practical questions are posed for implementation.

The integration of action research and project management is a collaborative venture and the engagement imperative emphasizes that collaboration.

By bringing together action research and project management the article integrates five imperatives: design, engagement, improvement, action and research and quality characteristics of action research to enhance project management as rigorous, reflective and relevant.

Value management (VM) practice has come to stay in the construction industry. It is no more alien that the construction industry is making use of this practice and other sectors of the economy connected to a country's policy. The basic idea is to adopt the system into every facet of the economy to have a better output at the end of a fiscal year in the long run. The construction industry in Scotland is not left behind as this study focuses on the adoption of VM practice in the country in terms of value planning, methodology, value engineering, review and analysis. Best value and VM focus on the delivery of values attached to VM projects and brings into notice how VM could serve as a risk management tool. This study also explains the role of teams in VM, VM actions, rewards and challenges experienced along with a summary of the whole system in Scotland.

Under Malaysian Law, the maintenance and management of common property have traditionally been viewed as insoluble challenges in the self-organisational efforts for high-rise low-cost housing developments. As the population increases, more shared resources become heavily exploited with few willing to contribute towards the sustainability of resources. Many researchers argued a better way would be to convert these shared resources into a private or state-managed entity. Hence, with that assumption, this paper aims to examine how better physical characteristics can result in greater collective action.

This research paper adopted a quantitative method approach to determine how the standard of physical characteristics influenced the quality of collective action in high-rise low-cost housing. The method included a questionnaire survey of 519 parcel holders chosen via stratified purposeful random sampling from four high-rise low-cost housing areas.

The paper found a positive correlation between the quality of physical characteristics and the collective action gained. The findings highlighted that the standard of workmanship of high-rise low-cost units (including the common properties), the crime rate in the neighbourhood and the condition of lift systems – when improved – were significant positive predictors of collective action.

Housing developers should pay attention to the quality of both low-cost units and related common properties, as this endeavour will assist greatly in future collective action management.

The study was justified in terms of its originality as few research studies adopted the social-ecological system framework that focused on the correlation between the quality of physical characteristics and the collective action of parcel holders.

This paper considers supply chain management organizations with the aid of 'chaotic systems theory' developed originally in physics and mathematics. Since innovations in supply chain management are vital for organizational survival 'complex systems theory' may assist in fine-tuning managerial philosophies that provide stability in supply chain management because it is on the boundary of chaos that the greatest innovational creativity occurs. Neither 'management by rigid objectives' (MBO) nor 'management by instruction' (MBI) will be suitable for the information society of the twenty-first century because chaotic social systems will no longer be effectively managed. However, the capacity for self-organization will be derived essentially from how supply chain management members accept a shared set of values or principles for action-'management by values' (MBV). Complex systems theory deals with systems that show complex structures in time or space, often hiding simple deterministic rules. This theory holds that once these rules are found, it is possible to make effective predictions and even to control the apparent complexity. The state of chaos that self-organizes is attributable to the appearance of the 'strange attractor' and provides the ideal basis for creativity and innovation in the twenty-first century. In the self-organized state of chaos, social members are not confined to narrow roles and gradually develop their capacity for differentiation and relationships, growing progressively towards their maximum potential contribution to the efficiency of the organization. In this meaning, values act as organizers of 'attractors' of disorder, which, in the theory of chaos, are systems represented by usually regular geometric configurations that predict the long-term behavior of complex systems. In supply chain management organizations (as in all kinds of social systems) the initial principles end up as the final principles in the long term. An attractor is a model representation of the behavioral results of the system. The attractor is not a force of attraction or a goal-oriented presence in the system; it simply depicts where the system is heading based on its rules of motion. In supply chain management organizations that cultivate or shares values of autonomy, responsibility, independence, innovation, creativity, and proactivity, the risk of short-term chaos is mitigated by external complexities that organizations are currently confronting. The strategy is to alter the supply chain management's surroundings so that they can benefit from management by values (MBV).

The paper aims to revisit the topic of relative performance evaluation (RPE) of top management using a large panel of community banks.

The empirical tests for RPE utilized a two‐stage approach in a unique dataset of community banks executive turnover over a ten‐year period. This allowed the authors to better estimate the benchmark performance relative to which bank executives should be evaluated under RPE. Moreover, bank regulatory evaluations allowed the authors to control for the impact of poor governance.

The paper shows that penalizing executives for poor performance arising from economic downturns is not necessarily inconsistent with the theory. The empirical results indicate that weak downturn‐linked performance is strongly related to increased executive turnover. Furthermore, this relationship is more pronounced in better‐governed banks, which are more likely to engage in value‐enhancing disciplinary actions.

The analysis suggests that executive dismissals during adverse economic conditions are not necessarily a result of bad luck; rather, the analysis implies that bad times are informative about management quality.

The main practical implication is that both relative and absolute performance should be incorporated in the incentive structure of bank executives.

The paper shows that the assumptions used in prior RPE studies may not be applicable to top executives which could explain the inconsistency between the theory and the empirical evidence. Further, the finding that better governed firms are more likely to penalize management for bad exogenously driven performance is unique and strengthens the case that disciplinary actions amid adverse economic times may not be due to bad luck.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the framework, operation and prospects of two innovative planning tools – biobanking and biodiversity certification – to protect biodiversity in the context of urbanisation.

Using the Australian State of New South Wales, and its capital Sydney, as a focus, the paper reviews the history and performance of the two planning tools selected for examination.

Through its analysis, this paper supports the use of biobanking and biodiversity certification as tools at the disposal of planners which should be employed to augment the array of tools to manage the impacts on biodiversity of urban development. Indeed, these tools have the potential to increase the level of conserved biodiversity if used appropriately.

Biobanking and biodiversity certification are, respectively, examples of market-based and strategic-based statutory planning mechanisms that can be used to protect biodiversity in an urban development context. Creative adaption of environmental planning laws is required to ensure effective implementation of these innovative planning tools. The relevant contemporary statutory enactments that have given effect to these mechanisms are examined in this paper.

Success of a television game show requires brand‐building effort and brand value management like any other product. However, aspects of information, entertainment, novelty, instant gratification, and experience dimensions are more salient in game shows. This has been amply proven by the television game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. The purpose of this research is to explore why some entertainment products succeed, while others fail.

In this paper, we present the system dynamic model of brand management of the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Initially, we present the reference mode behaviour, drawn from published data. In the dynamic model, we include factors such as channel popularity, host popularity, prize money, and competition that work towards building the viewership and influencing operational revenues. Computer‐based simulation and experimentalism are then applied as a research method to the model to explore its dynamic behaviour.

Our analysis shows that the right mix of host popularity, channel popularity and prize money has enabled KBC to achieve unprecedented success.

Validation of the model is based on the strength that the simulation results can replicate the reference mode behaviour and produce behaviour expected under extreme conditions. The validated model is used to draw what‐if scenarios, some of which resemble the experiences of competing game shows.

Understanding the dynamics of brand management of this game show can serve as an important tool for brand management of entertainment products. Further, the use of system dynamics for dynamic modelling of brand value has application in broader areas of marketing, and would be of interest to a wide managerial audience.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the representation of workplaces in the cinema and discuss its relevance to facilities management research.

An analysis of representation of work and the workplace in three films is made. These are Metropolis (1927), Wall Street (1987) and Clerks (1994). Cross‐case themes are then discussed.

Although the three films are of different time periods and genres a number of common themes emerge. These include level of control over the work process, alienation from the product of work and social capital gained. This may have implications for how workplaces are perceived and interpreted. Analysis of representations of the workplace in popular culture may contribute to user‐centred approaches to facilities management.

The study is limited to three films. A different choice might produce different results.

Understanding representations of the workplace in popular culture may give insights into user responses to management actions.

Although there is a research literature on the analysis of popular culture within organizational studies this has not been taken up by facilities management researchers. This paper explores the relevance of the analysis of an aspect of popular culture for facilities management.

This paper aims to investigate the compliance of Saudi shareholding companies with the requirements of internal control as set by the Saudi standard on internal control and its impact on the profitability of these companies.

A questionnaire was used to collect data about the compliance with internal control requirements, and four measures of profitability including earnings per share (EPS), return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and profit margin (PM) for profitability were calculated using data from the financial statements of these companies. Then, Multiple Regression and t-test were used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses.

The results of the study revealed that the degree of compliance with all components of internal control is very high. It also appears from the analysis that the effect of internal control and its components on ROA and ROE is significant and positive, while the effect on EPS and PM is positive but statistically insignificant.

Corporate managements should review the effectiveness of the implementation of internal control requirements, especially those related to control environment, information and communication and monitoring.

The findings of the study shed light on the relevance of internal control systems of the Saudi shareholding companies in improving the financial performance of the these companies, which is expected to help in safeguarding the interests of all interest groups and improve the society’s well-being.

The paper provides new evidence about the relationship between internal control and profitability in the Saudi Arabian environment. The findings of the study add good contribution to the literature because they direct our attention to the expected effect of the environment on the relationship between internal control and performance. The results may suggest that there is a need to expand this study using other methodologies to delve into the depths and understand this phenomenon within its context.