The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted many effects on populations worldwide. Due to the nature of the pandemic, health and specifically nursing sectors have been particularly impacted. While the nursing sector had to grapple with the impact of the pandemic as well as associated government interventions, nursing students have experienced changes in their job prospects, satisfaction with their training and their propensity to engage in further studies, all impinging on the sustainability of nursing education. This study aims to analyze educational outcomes for nursing graduates undertaking VET (vocational education and training) programs in Australia. Impacts assessed include employment, satisfaction, and further study after completion. The paper is based on analysis of five large waves of a comprehensive survey of Australian vocational education completers, from 2019 to 2022 inclusive. We develop three separate logistic regression models for the outcomes of employment, satisfaction, and enrollment in further study in order to estimate the predictive margins for the interactions between year and field of education, including the Diploma of Nursing, all other health qualifications, and all other qualifications. Our results show that these graduates saw significantly improved employment outcomes and heightened satisfaction during and after the pandemic, pointing to the sector meeting sustainability challenges. Interestingly, enrolment in further studies, after a notable increase earlier in the pandemic, returned to pre-pandemic levels as the crises abated.

Labour markets respond to supply and demand changes caused by external shocks, including pandemics. In 2020 and 2021, the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a sudden reduction in labour demand in certain industries globally. As economies emerge into the post COVID-19 reality, a return of patterns caused by ongoing structural pressures return. In Canterbury, a region centred on Christchurch in New Zealand, these include migration demand pressures. This paper uses data from the Canterbury region, which is no stranger to disasters, as a case study. Two models are developed to estimate the future workforce requirements during the recovery period. A population growth model is utilised to test the regional labour market's limits, while an economic model estimates the required jobs for the regional economy. The paper finds that the lower economic activity resulting from COVID-19 has reduced the near-term employment demand. At the same time, labour force transition coupled with strict border controls reveals the need for labour force participation to adjust during the extended recovery period. Although short-term demand for skilled migration remains lower, those leaving the workforce will require replacing.

Purpose – Growth optimism, which describes the expected future growth of a firm, is an important but underexplored construct in strategy. This paper aims to assess the planning antecedents of such growth optimism by using a large Australian sample of small enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a secondary data set, gathered among Australian small to medium enterprises (SMEs), by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The analysis adopts a regression approach including a mediated and a non-mediated path to explore the direct and indirect effects of strategic planning and budgetary planning and management on expected future revenues.

Findings – This paper assesses the implications of concurrent strategic planning and financial management dynamic capabilities on anticipated future revenue growth, an important predisposition dynamic capability. The authors note that this configuration of actions and predisposition aligns closely with the necessary requirements for growth. The findings suggest that firms that use strategic planning and robust budget planning and monitoring processes exhibit higher optimism about future sales growth and firms that effectively configure these planning activities with market development tend to exhibit higher growth and more growth optimism.

Research limitations/implications – In terms of theoretical contributions, the paper strongly supports the formality view in the formal/informal debates associated with effectuation strategies. The authors suggest that appropriate strategic and budgetary planning and control systems act as a counterbalance to organisational confusion and managerial capriciousness, leading to improved confidence among managers and their employees regarding future resource commitments and plans.

Practical implications – The Findings of the paper are potentially important for both managers and policy makers. For managers seeking to grow their future sales, planning is shown to be an important antecedent activity. The presence of financial and strategic planning may predispose firms to make important investment decisions that drive future growth. Also, a better understanding of the firm’s current and future strategic and financial position may be evidence of effective firm management, a situation that, in turn, drives growth.

Social implications – In terms of social and policy implications, the data gathered for the survey by the ABS forms a valuable collection of information in relation to business practices. Australian firms are required by law to regularly report budget plans and outcomes. The research suggests that this data can inform policy initiatives, particularly in relation to programmes that may assist small and young firms to undertake prospective strategic and budgetary planning.

Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to investigate the particular configuration of strategic and financial planning and anticipated sales growth in the SME context.

Purpose – In this paper, the authors will examine Welch's legacy and aftermaths, both for GE and more broadly within management practice and academic thought. As a complex character, indeed a person of many contradictions, the authors try to avoid polemics in this, instead focusing on his accomplishments and the unanswered questions about his impact.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a historical case using secondary and published materials to assess the case of Jack Welch's leadership of General Electric over the period 1981–2001.

Findings – Welch's proponents suggest he emphasized controlling corporate destiny, being open to new ideas, pursuing quality and low cost, having confidence, a vision founded on reality, a global focus and possessing energy and enthusiasm. However, his short-termist perspective undermined the long-term success of the company and his "win at any cost" mantra predisposed some employees to cutting ethical or environmental corners. As the market capitalization gains evaporated that had been used to justify the "end justifies the means" rationale, little is left of his legacy.

Research limitations/implications – The paper discusses the implications of the GE case for issues associated with corporate governance, financialization and human resource management.

Originality/value – This is a timely reconsideration of the Jack Welch legacy two years after his death. In avoiding polemics and seeking a considered assessment of his positive and negative outcomes, the paper is an important addition to the research on Welch and American management thought.

Purpose: This case study examines Marriott Corporation's large and successful spinoff between 1993 and 1995 and the concomitant adoption of a corporate ALFO strategy enabled by the transfer of assets and debt between the two entities. As an example of corporate restructuring, it involves changing ownership, operational structure, or business activities within a corporation in order to improve shareholder performance.
Methods: Key directional changes in Marriott's history that have changed the structure of the business is used to examine the spinoff and ALFO strategy adaptation.
Results: Marriot have been characterised by a small number of significant and foresightful innovations. There was a great deal of importance attached to the company's move away from food service and towards accommodation in the future. During the early stages of the company's existence, the company was located near Marriott's Bethesda headquarters and was headed by the founder's oldest son. There is no doubt that these investments have been probing in nature in the recent past, but they are significant in terms of scale and commitment in the future.
Implications: Marriott's success can be attributed to the fact that the company has a flexible corporate strategy that focuses on high growth and high yield business opportunities, as well as the willingness to dispose of assets that don't provide this outcome. As a result of this focus, the company was able to grow globally from the 1990s onwards. Ultimately, it can be said that the company's success can be attributed to the fact that it has adapted appropriately and successfully to changing operational and industry realities over the course of many decades, especially as exigencies in the asset and debt markets rendered the portfolio structure it had developed over so many decades unsustainable.

Purpose – The New Zealand city of Christchurch provides a leading example of post-disaster rebuilding in a Central Business District (CBD) area. In its rebuilding programme, the city has given emphasis to the greening of hospitality and traditional retail space through a combination of development of shared pedestrian spaces (with traffic exclusion and calming) and the integration of greening within the streetscape design. This paper aims to assess whether the development of greened pedestrian areas leads to higher retail spending and, thus, retail rental rates.

Design/methodology/approach – This study uses pedestrian movement data collected from several CBD locations, as well as spending data on retail and hospitality, to assess relationships between pedestrian movements and spending. This study explores retail spending in greened pedestrian shared spaces, and explores how this differs from retail spending in traditional street areas within the Christchurch CBD.

Findings – Spending patterns are location-related, depending on the characteristics of pedestrian space in the selected area. Greened shared pedestrian areas have the highest spending per measured pedestrian for retail and hospitality, whereas traditional street areas have lower spending for retail and hospitality per measured pedestrian, demonstrating the benefits in redeveloped central city areas.

Originality/value – The scope of smart data continues to develop as a research area within urban studies to develop an open and connected city. This research demonstrates the use of innovative technologies for data collection, use and sharing. The results support commercial benefits of greening and pedestrianisation of retail and hospitality areas for CBDs and providing an example for other cities to follow.