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The purpose of this paper is to identify, present and categorise the main requirements, challenges and impacts of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) applications. Emphasis is given to the soft impacts of LSS applications, which are intangible in nature and difficult to quantify and measure, highlighting the most frequently cited ones.

A qualitative synthesis of the studies using the narrative synthesis approach is adopted to descriptively summarise and categorise the requirements, challenges and impacts of LSS applications. The studies were searched by using the following keywords: “LSS applications,” “LSS requirements,” “LSS challenges” and “LSS impacts” in almost all major electronic databases such as Emerald, Taylor and Francis, ScienceDirect and Wiley. A total of 116 articles published between 2007 and 2017 in 41 academic journals were collected and reviewed. Consideration was also given to a number of substantial publications in 2006, 2018 and 2019.

In addition to its process efficiency and financial impacts, LSS was found to have another impact category related to individual and organisational behaviours. Management commitment, training and organisational culture were concluded to be amongst the most important and required categories for successful LSS applications. It was also found that the lack of awareness of LSS tools and benefits and the lack of change management and resistance to change were amongst the most cited categories of implementation challenges.

The studies published between 2007 and 2017 are mainly considered in this paper. It is believed that 10-year publication period considered in this research is sufficient to study the evolution, benefits, limitations and future trends of a particular research topic. However, the exclusion criteria used in the search process with respect to the articles’ year of publication and search terms and keywords may limit the generalisation of the research findings. In addition, the qualitative nature of this research study and the lack of empirical data to support its findings is another limitation that future research should consider.

This research paper may serve as a valuable source of information for LSS researchers as it will provide them with useful and new insights and directions for further research in LSS. It will also increase the awareness of LSS practitioners about the kind of impact LSS has, and therefore, achieve a better utilisation of its tools by ensuring availability of application requirements and overcoming application challenges.

This study differs from previous research studies as it focusses attention on the soft impacts of LSS applications and highlights them. The study identifies and prioritises LSS application impacts, requirements and challenges. The study on these aspects was found to be limited and lacking in previous research studies.

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed for many years with the aim of improving the quality of care. A review of the use of CPGs and assessments of CPG compliance among practitioners so far would aid the understanding of factors influencing CPG compliance. This study seeks to provide this.

A general review and discussion of CPGs in areas of their attributes, benefits and pitfalls were carried out. Articles concerning the assessment of CPG compliance were also reviewed to understand the kind of data collected for such assessments (qualitative vs quantitative), the methods used to collect data (objective versus subjective), and the assessment measures employed (process versus outcome).

A total of 57 CPG compliance assessment studies were reviewed. Almost two‐thirds employed objective methods. Of the subjective assessments, 47 per cent analysed solely quantitative data, 32 per cent analysed solely qualitative information and 21 per cent analysed both. More than four‐fifths of all studies used process measures to determine CPG compliance and only 5 per cent used solely outcome measures.

Depending on the methods used, assessments can help identify various factors influencing CPG compliance. Such factors may be related to the physician, guidelines, health system or patient. A good understanding of these factors and their role in influencing compliance behaviour will help health regulators and administrators plan better and more effective strategies to improve doctors' CPG compliance.

This review looks at the various aspects of CPGs to understand how these influence practitioners' compliance.

Supreme audit institutions, such as the auditors‐general, are considered a crucial link in the accountability chain between parliament and the executive arm of government. The purpose of this study is to examine the enabling legislation of the supreme audit institutions of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries from a public sector accountability and independence perspective. Following on from INTOSAI (1998), English and Guthrie (2000) and De Martinis and Clark (2001), this study uses an accountability and independence framework to identify and compare the current legislation applicable to the supreme audit institutions of the ASEAN member countries with regard to independence, autonomy, mandate, funding issues, and related parliamentary powers. This study finds that while on average each jurisdiction has addressed slightly less than half the total number of issues under examination, there is considerable diversity with regard to the particular issues addressed. The study suggests policy implications to further strengthen the provisions for accountability and independence of supreme audit institutions through amendments to the enabling legislation of the various jurisdictions.

In this chapter, we introduce a new construct we call “Perceived Deception in Online Consumer Reviews” (PDOCR). Online reviews of products are very important to companies and customers, yet they are vulnerable to unethical representations. Even regardless of whether a deceptive review has been posted or not, we take the position that it is important to understand consumers’ perceptions of deception because it is a consumer’s perception that leads him or her to experience subsequent feelings and opinions and to consider follow-up actions. We draw on the literature and build on the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Cognitive Dissonance Theory to create an overarching framework of antecedents of PDOCR, consequences, and moderators. We also report findings from a sample of in-depth interviews with real consumers about their thoughts on these phenomena and related constructs. We use our framework and theories and the qualitative data to derive Research Questions that we hope will spur future research on these important issues.

This paper aims to summarize the current state of research on risk, crisis and disaster management in the generic field, and in tourism and hospitality. It identifies key themes and compares the main topics studied in both the tourism and hospitality management and marketing literature.

A narrative (thematic) review and synthesis was completed based on articles published in the top 20 tourism and hospitality management journals from 2011 to March 2021. A review was conducted of the generic literature from 2016 to 2020.

From 210 papers reviewed, only 47 are in the hospitality field. The authors found that 80% of papers were empirical with slightly more quantitative papers produced. The majority of the papers focused on crises. Three key themes were found from the review and future research proposed to address gaps based on these findings and a review of 26 papers from the generic risk, crisis and disaster management field.

Research is required into planning and preparedness, not just response and recovery to crises and disasters. Future research should consider hospitality rather than tourism, particularly focusing attention outside of the accommodation sector. Hospitality studies also need to go beyond the micro-organizational level to include more meso- and macro-level studies.

The review provides a number of future research directions for tourism and hospitality research in the field. The paper provides a comprehensive multi-dimensional framework to synthesize studies and identifies research gaps. It also provides recommendations on methodologies required to progress these research directions. Research in this field is likely to grow because of the impact of COVID-19.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss contemporary knowledge relevant to the application of performance measurement (PMe) in the concept of OPM and to compare findings from a literature review with solutions recommended for utilization by managers from general contractors operating in Poland. There are few studies related to the mentioned topic, much fewer describing the geographical area of Eastern Europe.

Triangulation of research methods was selected. First literature review, next desk research and finally descriptive statistical analysis and interview were conducted. The research methods were applied in three steps whose beginnings overlapped and the mid-term findings from one study complemented others.

PMe should be focused on management and governance issues. Its evaluation is related to various organizational levels (permanent organization, portfolio, program, project, construction site and supply chain), most of them are under valuated by practitioners. The conducted study pointed out that there are numerous supporting tools and measures applicable in organizational project management (OPM). The managers recommend combining various tools in one comprehensive OPM system, to limit multiple manual incorporations of the same data to the various databases. The managers call to increase the practical usefulness of researchers’ proposals, to educate the construction managers in the application of complex performance systems and to promote portfolio thinking.

The comparison of performance measurement solutions proposed by academia with experience collected from Polish construction managers could support the better application of theoretical ideas in practice.

Despite skepticism, consumers rely on online reviews for their purchase decisions. However, academics mostly argue that skepticism has an inverse relationship with consumer decision-making. This study aims to investigate the relationship among skepticism, reliance and consumer purchase decisions in an online review context. It also investigates the moderating role of review self-efficacy and regulatory focus in the relationship between skepticism and reliance on online reviews.

A survey with a nationally representative sample and two experimental studies are conducted.

Skepticism negatively affects consumers’ reliance on online reviews and reliance on online reviews mediates the relationship between skepticism and review-based purchase decisions. High review self-efficacy participants tend to rely more on online reviews than low review self-efficacy participants. Promotion-focused people rely more on online reviews than prevention-focused people, despite similar levels of skepticism.

The findings contribute to the skepticism, self-efficacy and regulatory focus literature. The general framework of the relationship among skepticism, reliance and purchase decision is also applicable in an online review context.

The results provide evidence of a stronger reliance on online reviews of high review self-efficacy and promotion-oriented consumers compared to low review self-efficacy and prevention-oriented consumers.

Performance-based contracting (PBC) is a business model for the adaptive and innovative delivery of product-service systems. In PBC, the provider is paid according to the service performance with the aim of providing monetary incentives to safeguard possible outcomes as much as possible for the PBC customer. Performance measurement and its management are crucial for PBC success and, in particular, for the pay-for-performance link. However, the literature on PBC performance management is rather sparse, and there has been no systematic review on the topic. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to fill that gap and to present a comprehensive and systematic review of performance measurement and management in the PBC context.

The paper builds on a literature review based on a sample of 102 subject-relevant articles from academic journals. The content analysis follows a two-step procedure. First, the articles are coded following a process-based research framework. Second, the content of each process step is assessed in a qualitative text analysis.

The results show a surprising scarcity of papers that explicitly address performance management topics in the context of PBC. Only the topics of performance specification and performance indicators are broadly addressed, whereas in all of the other areas, e.g., strategic alignment, data capture and reporting, only limited specific findings could be found.

The paper concludes that future research on performance management in PBC should expand its theoretical framework and empirical efforts in four specific proposed directions.

The paper provides an up-to-date review that is focused on performance management and measurement in the emerging context of PBC.

As in any managerial function, the Director of Internal Audit must be cognisant of necessary administrative responsibilities to enable the proper functioning of an internal auditing department. Not only must the generic managerial responsibilities be in existence but also those functions which are conducive to internal audit. The administrative responsibilities of the Director of Internal Audit as they pertain to the administration of the Internal Audit Department are explored – the planning process; reporting audit issues and recommendations and the major issues facing the Audit Director.

“Reference Serials” intends to provide in‐depth, evaluative reviews of abstracting services, indexes, serial bibliographies, yearbooks, directories, almanacs and other continuations which would normally be housed in reference collections. For the purposes of this column, reference serials are defined as materials which meet two rather flexible requirements: 1) they must be useful as reference sources, and 2) they must be issued as serials or be titles superseded periodically by new editions.