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After three decades of reform and opening up, China’s economy has experienced huge changes. Against the background of economic globalization, foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an important role in China’s economy. China has become one of the world’s largest FDI inflow countries, which has had an important impact on its economic development. FDI has preferred the industrial sector, which also has serious environmental pollution. This study will consider vertical and horizontal FDI location choice theory and conduct theoretical analysis concerning the FDI location choice within the industrial sectors, as well as empirical analysis to test the distribution of FDI in pollution-intense industries. Furthermore, the “Catalog of Industries for Foreign Investment” is one of China’s important industrial policies to guide foreign investment. Since being implemented in 1995, it has made five adjustments. The analysis of the distribution of FDI in the polluting industries and the impact of the change process will provide advice instructive for the government to amend the catalog.

The hospitality industry is rapidly evolving; aspects like technology, digitisation, artificial intelligence, eco-friendly, best practices, green hotels and sustainability are significantly impacting change. It is evident that the hospitality industry is trying its best to embrace change but do hospitality graduates have sufficient exposure to the importance of embracing these changes? Further, are academics updating their curriculum in line with industry requirements? This also prompts the question: How often do industry and academia come together to discuss the future? Is it the sole responsibility of academic institutions to consider the changes needed or should industry take a lead and guide academia? This theme issue explores these questions and concerns and considers the way forward.

This viewpoint article explains why the theme issue question is important and outlines the approach taken with reference to the hospitality industry and hospitality education. The authors explore our theme issue question with particular reference to developments in Asia.

The hospitality industry impacts the environment in numerous ways and it is important for the industry to learn and train employees for a sustainable future and it is equally important to understand the challenges faced by the industry in adopting sustainable practices. The deployment of artificial intelligence, robotics and automation is increasingly impacting global standards and operating procedures and clearly technology has a key role to play in sustainable development. The authors also consider ways in which hospitality education could be better synced with industry and how it could evolve in response to future requirements.

This theme issue on hospitality education and sustainability was conceived with the aim of addressing concerns like the challenges faced by academics in upgrading the curriculum/programme structure so that it is better aligned with industry norms. It further examines sustainable practices adopted by hotels in Asia as compared to their counterparts in other parts of the world and it explores the gaps between hospitality industry operations and the programme delivery of hospitality institutions.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the state of the healthcare facility management (FM) workforce and trends and how it compares to the nonhealthcare industries.

A survey was developed, based on relevant literature, regarding respondents’ gender, race, age, educational attainment and job tenure. The survey was sent electronically via Qualtrics^® system in February 2021 to members of the International Facility Management Association membership; 3,557 individuals completed the survey by April 2021, for a 29% response rate. Only data from 1,407 US respondents working in facility operations were included in this study. Of the 1,407 respondents included in this study, 89 worked in the healthcare industry. The majority of respondents not working in healthcare industry (1,318) were employed in government, education or banking and investment.

The demographics of facility managers in the healthcare industry are similar to the demographics of facility managers in other industries: the majority of the FM workforce is male, middle-aged, white, college educated and employed in-house. While healthcare and nonhealthcare facility managers have similar responsibilities across job levels, compensation for entry-level FM roles in the healthcare industry is significantly lower than for entry-level FM roles in other industries. This low pay in healthcare FM, compared to other industries, may exacerbate ongoing challenges related to talent recruitment and retention and justify pay banding increases to improve attraction of top talent into healthcare FM. Both healthcare and nonhealthcare industries hire new college graduates for entry-level FM jobs, but the healthcare industry is more likely to hire individuals who majored in liberal arts compared to other industries more likely to hire individuals who majored in subjects related to the built environment such as FM and engineering. To compensate for low entry-level pay, healthcare organizations may be focusing recruitment efforts on liberal arts students who have little to no training in the built environment because they have lower pay expectations. Older healthcare facility professionals also have shorter job tenures with their current employers than do older facility professionals in other industries; this trend appears to be recent and not be related to pay or the COVID-19 pandemic. A surge of senior-level FM retirements may be creating advancement opportunities for older entry- and mid-level FM personnel in healthcare; if this situation is a factor, research should be conducted to understand its implications for recruiting and developing healthcare FM talent.

Only data from US respondents who were working in healthcare facility operations at the time of the study were included in the data analysis.

Healthcare organizations can use the study’s findings to help address FM workforce challenges unique to their industry staff recruitment, retention and succession planning.

To provide a snapshot picture of the current e‐book industry from the perspectives of various key individuals in the industry.

Over 20 interviews were conducted following an extensive review of the published literature and examination of product/technical information.

The interviews revealed varying opinions on the current state of the industry and even on the definition of the e‐book industry itself. Key issues identified include: standards, digital rights management, content availability, pricing, device/reader technology, integration and market development.

This industry is still relatively young, generally marking its beginnings in 2000; however, its early years have been marked by market hype, investor fallout and slow market development. Today's industry is at a pivotal point: can obstacles to maturity be overcome or will the industry be either subsumed by the larger consumer electronics or web‐based industries?

Information professionals may find these perspectives useful in framing their own applications of e‐book technology in their planning for future technology, collections and services.

The interviews, generally conducted with the understanding that comments and other key competitive information would remain unattributed, provide an insider's look at a technology and industry developing in a larger arena of rapid technological and market change.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to analyze the interactions among the competitiveness factors of the real estate industry on the basis of Porter's Diamond Model. The model provides insights into the relationship between these factors in the context of the Beijing and Tianjin real estate industries.

Based on Porter's Diamond Model, this paper establishes the competitiveness factors model and divides the factors into four key categories. (i.e. productivity element, demand constraint, the strategy or structure of relevant and supportive industry and corporation, and horizontal competition). After relevant indices are picked up in each category, the paper utilizes structural equation modeling to analyze the contribution of each factor on competitiveness of real estate industry. Data are collected from Beijing and Tianjin in China and the model is practiced in the context of the real estate industry of the two cities.

Supported by empirical evidence, this study finds out that related industries have the most significant influence on competitiveness of real estate industry and the second important is demand factors. Based on these, four pieces of suggestion are given to improve the competitiveness of real estate industry combining with the condition of Beijing and Tianjin in this paper.

This research builds a conceptual model based on Porter's Diamond model to provide a much more comprehensive understanding of the interactions between competitiveness factors of real estate industry, and introduces structural equation modeling to quantitatively analyze the contribution of each factor to competitiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to identify weaknesses in human capital development (HCD) in the hospitality industry in Nigeria and to find implementable solutions.

The author draws on the literature on HCD and the hospitality industry, as well as her experience working with practitioners to enlighten the discussion.

Deficiencies in HCD in the Nigerian hospitality industry are the result of a lack of sound and forward-thinking educational development, lack of a supportive environment for the meaningful employment of graduates of the educational system and social bias against vocational education, as well as inadequate hospitality skills of employees, insufficient empowerment or support from the government and hospitality industry participants.

This paper summarises the key issues in HCD in the hospitality industry in Nigeria and the implementable solutions. The roles of the government, society and the hospitality industry are highlighted to demonstrate that HCD in the industry is a collective responsibility.

HCD has increasingly been a prominent goal of research policy in Nigeria and elsewhere but has not yet engendered much discussion in the hospitality literature.

1986 has been designated Industry Year to assist in bringing about a change of understanding and attitudes towards industry, that it may be seen as a necessary service affecting the quality of life of every individual, and in order to change Britain's position from bottom of the major industrial league. Industry Year, with the full support of the government, CBI, TUC, BIM and the Engineering Council, will aim to improve awareness of industry's contribution to society, strengthen and add to the initiatives linking education and industry, and encourage industry itself to articulate its role more clearly. Objectives will be fulfilled through harnessing initiatives at local level, through regional working groups, local media, museums and schools. The success of the year will depend on action within industry itself and its component parts — the people and companies involved.

The purpose of this paper is to review the answers to the question posed in the introduction to the themed issue: how can effective university‐industry partnerships be developed?

The paper consolidates the findings of various studies featuring in this theme issue on effective university‐industry partnerships. It addresses the aspects which contribute to effective partnerships and also challenges the issues around such partnerships.

The paper discusses the range of best practices for building effective university‐industry partnerships.

There are lessons for industry, universities and policy makers.

The paper provides multiple perspectives on university‐industry partnerships from various geographies.

Official statistics on the output of the construction industry capture on-site activities of contractors and sub-contractors; however, the role of the industry linking suppliers of materials, machinery, products, services and other inputs is also widely recognised. These two views have been called broad and narrow, with the narrow industry defined as on-site work and the broad industry as the supply chain of materials, products and assemblies, and professional services. An argument is made for using the term “built environment sector” (BES) for the broad industry definition of construction. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Construction industry statistics capture the on-site activities of contractors and sub-contractors. This paper reviews research that adds to construction output the contributions of suppliers of materials, machinery and equipment, products and components, professional services and other inputs required to deliver the buildings and structures that make up the built environment.

The same term, “construction”, has been used in a number of ways in different definitional studies of the narrow and broad industry. The term that best encompasses the large number and range of participants in the creation and maintenance of the built environment, from suppliers to end users, is the BES.

Construction economics makes an important contribution to researching the macroeconomic role of the BES. There is also a special role for construction economics in researching both the boundaries of the BES and the data available on the industries that contribute to the BES.

Measuring the BES would improve the understanding of its macroeconomic role and significance.

Measuring the BES would contribute to city policies and urban planning.

The paper proposes a new approach to defining and measuring the industries that contribute to the production, maintenance and management of the built environment. It introduces a new name for the combination of those industries.

This paper summarises the results of a survey of how Canadian firms are implementing continuous improvement (CI) programs, where CI is defined as a set of activities intended to achieve ongoing improvement in customer satisfaction, productivity, and quality. The paper first summarizes and compares certain market and organisational characteristics of survey respondents from the auto and auto parts, electronics, metals and metal‐processing, and food‐processing industries. Next, the study examines the extent to which specific CI practices are being implemented within each industry. Conclusions are presented, based on statistical analysis, on similarities and contrasts among the four industries in the extent to which they implement particular CI practices. Finally, the authors seek to provide insights into why each industry establishes its CI practices at specific levels, by relating the adoption of CI practices to the market and organisational characteristics of firms in that industry.