Advances in Human Factors, Business Management and Leadership

Innovation potential and the creation of new knowledge, which is considered to be one of the main drivers of economic development, is particularly emphasized in region development [1–3]. However, in effect regions face significant barriers to the development of innovation and smart specialization. Despite strong institutional support impulses, the current contribution of regions to national competitiveness is debatable. As an example, the study analyses one of the regions of the EU Member State Latvia (Vidzeme), its contribution to national productivity and the main obstacles to the development of the region’s innovations - smart specialization. The results obtained in the context of a single region inductively highlight the weaknesses of region economy concept and point to opportunities for its improvement.

The absence of a universal measurement of marketing productivity highlights an inability to measure the influence of marketing assets on company results. It is important, therefore, to develop measures and quantifiable models of marketing productivity, making it possible to understand and evaluate company performance. Following a review of the literature on the topic, this paper sets forth a Theoretical Model of Marketing Productivity (MTPM), to serve as a base for carrying out measurements of productivity through the identification of their determinant variables. The obtained results establish that marketing resources, financial performance, and price all exercise a positive effect on marketing productivity, while market-based assets exercise a negative effect.

To investigate the downstream internal competition and its effect on firm’s performance comprehensive literature review has been conducted. The concentration is on recognized social dimensions, similar focus is on communications, interactions and interrelationship between departments and business units. The Integration of intra-organizational competition and internal social comparison balances the literature review. Although it is quite controversial to practice and encourage internal competition having it’s sustained effect on behavioral of employees. The basis of literature review relies on human tendency to compare and coordinate work activities inside firm’s boundaries. The literature emphasizes on the link between the construct of intra-organizational competition and barriers for employees to function effectively. The Author concluded that there is a lack of systematic literature review which aims to test theoretical link between downstream product market competition affecting employee’s contribution towards “firms performance” from organizational point of view as per author’s current knowledge and available information.

In this study, we provide novel insight into operating and maintaining a heterogeneous and expanding vehicle fleet in a smart city environment. Smart mobility is booming and comprises an important part of the development of smart cities. City bikes are already widely used in many cities and new types of vehicle, such as scooters, have already entered the market. Smart mobility systems also create new infrastructure in cities that requires daily operation and maintenance. Poorly managed operation and maintenance causes low usage of smart mobility systems and on the other side, can be very costly to cities. Therefore, we provide a novel method according to Industry 4.0 standards to manage the challenges with the help of an open platform that connects smart mobility systems and service providers.

Transition towards new ICT based technologies, as 5G- related technologies, will happen unexpected fast, including exponential growth of data. It is essential to understand the challenges of change and have a strategic view, identify the key elements and see the new opportunities in all levels of society development.5G technologies are not fully standardized until during year 2020. Many key elements and benefits as increased latency, speed and reliability have been identified. It has not been too much discussion about the implementation on the technologies that are boosted by 5G. The development is very much depending on fiber network infrastructure investment.Transdisciplinary innovation happens through digital innovation ecosystem to create profitable new business models. 5G do not replace other technologies but instead gives new possibilities for digital ecosystems to make new opportunities for business ecosystems to create new services.There has been research about 5G possibilities in Smart city context in big cities, but not on what it provides in small cities. In this article is introduced the approach, how to prepare the 5G technology and the possibilities it may provide on Finnish growth corridor on city environment.

Digitalization, megatrends, the new opportunities offered by technologies have caused societies to break through towards the fourth industrial transformation. It will change the whole society and its structures alongside the business. All societies, not just corporations, but also cities and regions, have to prepare for the change caused by digitalization. That challenges also traditional organizational structures. This requires a new type of business operation and organization.Cities are responding to the rapid progress of society and are moving from traditional organizational structures to ecosystem development. They are building their own network to involve in developing new operations. While cities largely receive their own funding as taxes, development and change management must be considered in the same way as in businesses. A key measure of efficiency is the improved service and achieved cost efficiency. The article examines the city biking ecosystem development on the Finnish Growth Corridor.

Networked collaboration between industry, research institutes, the public sector and consumers forms an ecosystem for the development of new technological solutions for areas requiring multidisciplinary knowledge and capabilities. The goal of this paper is to present the “Bioeconomy 4.0” research and development ecosystem for developing digital solutions for monitoring, analyzing and interpreting data collected from bioeconomical processes. The ecosystem includes research and development institutions and activities, academic institutions, industrial actors from food production chains, the public sector and also consumers. The main focus of the paper lies in the creation and deployment of new multidisciplinary knowledge in networked collaboration between ecosystem stakeholders.

Open data can be used to promote better information sharing and joint co-creation between public organizations such as cities or governments and their citizens. In addition to this, openly available data and open technologies provide new opportunities to develop new products and services in both the public sector and private businesses. This development often requires close collaboration between various stakeholders including software developers, research institutes, public actors such as governments and cities as well as commercial actors. Jointly developed co-creation models and practices are able to improve the commitment of different stakeholders and ensure that the created solutions are based on real needs. This kind of collaboration is particularly beneficial in, for example, the work related to smart city development.

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been considered as one of the primary mechanisms to mobilize social capital towards infrastructure and services in the energy sector on a global scale. However, the lack of understanding of PPPs in the energy sector has been highlighted as a limiting factor for the full and successful implementation of PPP projects. Accordingly, this research seeks to identify the main dimensions of PPPs in the energy sector. A systematic search was conducted for that purpose. Furthermore, the present study included the application of two different bibliometric packages as analytics tools: VOSviewer and Leximancer. Both different computational approaches were used to identify key dimensions and compare them with results of manual content analysis. The five key dimensions emerged as 1) PPP projects, 2) renewable technologies and electricity in the energy sector, 3) hybrid energy governance, 4) risk and 5) sectoral interlinkages. The development of innovative approaches related to hybrid energy governance and the growing sectoral interlinkages reveals the need for more flexible and participatory PPPs to facilitate the energy transition.

Tourism activities in rural areas in Latin America and the global consensus on the subject, simplistically links tourism as a solution to poverty and environmental protection. 26.1% of the Ecuadorian population prefers to visit the rural area, feel linked to nature, peace and harmony, breathe fresh air, have a more natural and healthy way of life. Therefore, the objective of studying the subject is to enhance the tourism offer for the local and rural development of the Palmar commune, taking advantage of the natural tourist attractions that it has, through ecological tourism with a proposal of an ecological path to María Guare hill, Palmar beach and Rosada beach, through the Mangrove and the cliff, in order to raise awareness and conserve this natural resource through environmental education, while generating a source of economic income for the Commune.

Digital transformation (DT) is disrupting industrial organizations, which require significant changes in their properties to remain competitive. This calls for strong leadership to drive this transformation. However, what leadership competencies are required to lead DT impactfully is unclear. Therefore, we seek to identify the key leadership competencies by employing a qualitative, grounded theory approach. By conducting interviews of ten DT experts from two hardcore industrial organizations, we highlight five key leadership competencies that industrial organizations need to develop in their leaders: digital vision, digital knowledge, failing fast, empowerment, and managing diverse teams. The results of this study will help industrial organizations to strategically prepare their leadership for the requirements of DT.

The public discussion towards abortion policy in Alabama triggered research interest from many prestige scholars to revisit the often-polarized topic. Our research focus on exploring the implication using the policy change as an external perturbation raising attention to the existing diseases conditions causing infant morbidity and mortality, e.g. HIV and STI, providing an alternative perspective through System Dynamics Modeling to illustrate the practical problems and propose possible solutions to achieve effective governance. The existence and response tackling transmittable diseases pose challenges in providing consistent quality medical care and increasing burden in the context of heath sector development. Taking into the consideration of limited public sector resources with many competing areas for spending and investment, the importance to prioritize based on need and relative challenges becomes the determinant factor to effective policy decision making process. This paper begins with a review of previous relevant experiment in system dynamics concerning public health, then it presents a functional model designed to include existing conditions of transmittable disease (HIV and STI) in a population and medical financial burden for families. Although our model encompasses a detailed process including the potential policy change in Alabama, our focus in on the connection between disease cases in infant to overall public welfare, which are responsible for the majority of health impairment in the U.S.

The knowledge and the links between participants are two basic elements that allow the development and survival of sectors that, like the artisan one, find in the endogenous knowledge the central motor for the production of goods. For that reason this article seeks to synthesize concepts and key definitions of social capital with the purpose of making evident to the reader its relevance for the study of the phenomena that surround this group, especially when it is sought to generate a complex approach that seeks the development of deep transformations on their issues. Based on the analysis of research articles that allow us to understand the value of this capital and of diverse methodologies focused on promoting its development, relevant findings are defined within the State of Art and evidencing different lines of study that will allow related researchers to find a theoretical and methodological reference for the development of their projects.

In competency management studies, scholars call for the importance of digital savviness to hire, train, and develop new digital workers. Yet, the knowledge about the development of such a competence is still scarce. For this endeavor, we followed a systematic literature review to identify a sample of 103 published scientific articles and book chapters dealing with the development and implementation of competency tools in the past 10 years. To our surprise, our review suggests that the landscape of competency tools is surprisingly obsolete and that contemporary requirements of digitization have not yet been incorporated into updated usable competency tools. Through this review our hope is to provide competency managers and researchers with a framework to advance and upgrade their competency tools to address the gap between existing know how and the needed expertise of the digital world.

This study explored how personal social capital influences employee growth in different industrial sectors in Ghana. This is informed by the prevailing argument on the need for knowledge generation on the role of social capital on employee growth, and which dynamics continue to gain currency in human resource management research. Using data from the banking, telecommunication and media sectors, it was found that the social interdependence between workers and other colleagues, information from their personal social networks, their personal relationships with colleagues that encourage the prevalence of trustful work environments, and the personal relationships they develop with others during social gatherings are all predictive of workers’ personal social capital that contribute variously in enhancing their professional growth in the work environments of different industrial sectors. It is concluded that the incorporation of workers’ personal social capital in organizations’ human resource management systems will help add value to their productiveness.

The business models of traditional banks and financial institutions have in the past been very conservative, and the stability of the business environment has also maintained the stability of the competencies required of those in the industry. However, the emergence of alternative sources of finance and growing competition has created a situation where the competences of financial companies and practitioners are under pressure, one of which is competences in sales.

The art and science of teaching has been profoundly described as full of emotional activity but interestingly, not much is known of the emotional demands of the profession and more especially the effects of these on the individual’s wellbeing. This research investigates the relationship between emotional labour, emotional exhaustion and turnover intention among Ghanaian teachers. Further, the study examines whether team support plays a moderating role in the relationship between emotional labour and emotional exhaustion with focus on addressing the retention of teachers in the profession. A cross-sectional quantitative data was obtained using self-completed questionnaires. A total of 628 teaching staff were surveyed in the second cycle schools in the Accra Metropolis. Structural equation modeling was used to test the study’s hypotheses. Results of the study revealed a significant association between emotional labour and turnover intention. The study also found a positive relationship between emotional labour and emotional exhaustion. In addition, the model shows that ‘faking’ has a significant negative effect on retention whereas ‘hiding’ predicts emotional exhaustion, leading to an increase in turnover intention. More experienced teachers reported higher levels of emotional labour. Team support has been found to moderate the relationship between hiding and emotional exhaustion, which could have subsequent influence on employee turnover intention. The presence of a strong team support system at the workplace could be useful for managing the emotional demands of teachers’ job role, with implications for their well-being and retention. There is the need for teachers to be aware of emotional demands of their profession in order to promote the acquisition of such skills by both experienced and newly trained teachers.

This scientific investigation is a proposal regarding managerial skills for decision making, in the context of emotional intelligence. The objective is to investigate the influence that accountability has on assertive decision-making in all areas and at all hierarchical levels of an SMB in the hospital sector in Tijuana, Baja California, México. The approach is qualitative in phenomenological design, carried out on 10 collaborators: 54.5% operative personnel, 18% support personnel, and 27.5% administrative area. The measurement instruments are focus groups and questionnaires to measure accountability. The data analysis is using descriptive statistics, SPSS version 22 program, and coding tables. The results show that 100% of the collaborators are not aware of the responsibility of the daily decisions and sometimes, the decision-maker prefers not to decide especially for fear of punishment. It is concluded that it is necessary to design an accountability model as a part of the continuous training requirements.

In Chile, the city councils are fundamental to the country’s decentralization, by introducing a more connected route of administration for and along with people, their problems, needs and desires to develop themselves. For the above, the elements that make it efficient and improve the quality of citizens’ life are essential. There are 346 city councils in Chile which belong to the different communes, for the following research there were selected the ones that have more than 50,000 habitants and that belong to regional capitals. So that the factors that influence the efficiency of the city council in Chile were determined, from the index of quality of life of the communes. Therefore, there was developed an econometric model which explained the determined factors for the efficiency of the city council in Chile. Moreover, there were identified the variables that have a greater impact on such efficiency.

Due to organizational atmosphere being a very broad entirety, which extends practically to all activities and levels of the organization, it can be considered a strategic matter. Good organizational atmosphere shows off, among other things, as an employee’s satisfaction and empowerment, which increases organizations abilities to innovate and enhance customer satisfaction. Those can be measured with cash flow earnings.This article shows trough a study, made in several Finnish SME-companies, a different way to measure performance and success. The good organizational atmosphere has huge impacts for the financial performance of the company as the article will show. Article also answers to questions how and why cash flow earnings is a good and relevant way to measure success and performance. The future research actions and needs are handled and addressed in the end of the article.

It has been found that the main causes of insufficient sales of different small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is the low conversion rate of quotes into sales, which entails poor business performance and low economic impact. Therefore, a marketing methodology called inbound marketing is planned, which is modified and adapted to the case study. In contrast, tools such as ABC classification, workflow, and inbound marketing have been used as a structure of the proposed methodology to solve the problem. The implementation of this methodology resulted in an increased efficiency of quote development and an enhanced performance ratio thereof. In conclusion, it is possible to measure the financial impact of the methodology implementation which has been beneficial for the company under study. Business performance in the last month of implementation improved by 10%.

As the sales has evolved from feature-based selling into value creating interaction, so has the sales process evolved with the development of understanding and technology. When traditional sales saw a sales process to be like a funnel running from lead generation via sales meetings and negotiations to deals, in today´s value sales process sales does not end to sales contract or even after sales. Feature-need-benefit-value framework is combined with characteristics and the competitive advantages of traditional, service, expert and value sales processes.

The well-functioning markets of business transfers can bring competitive advantage regionally and nationally. At the same time, management and leadership culture in transferred companies are in crucial role for the success or failure of the transferring situations. Valuing business transferring and the organizational success of transfers from the profit and loss statement or return of assets or investment point of view, can raise challenges.This article reveals a different way for valuing business transferring and organizational success of transfer. A cash flow earnings-based method that can take into account the changes happening in different kinds of processes. Through this study there is also brought up some of those factors that have huge impact on the success of transfers. The future research actions and needs are handled and addressed in the end of the article.

The financial market is the primary source of financing, which institutions need to finance their projects as well as their own potential to achieve their financial and material resources.The presence of financial markets in any country reflects the development of the economies of countries and their progress. It aims to secure the flow and pool savings to contribute to the investment and development process by mobilizing and directing financial resources, facilitating trading, diversifying risks and increasing investments.The development of financial markets linked to the economic development experienced by most countries of the world because of their role in stimulating investment.So, the financial market influenced by the results of past events to anticipate future events in an economic environment characterized by instability and uncertainty due to the possibility of facing financial risks.

Digitalization is continuously changing people’s ways of searching and buying products and services. Digital platforms, especially around the internet, are radically changing the people’s ways to share experiences and interact with each other. A company that implements the elements of the change to its processes gains an overwhelming competitive edge in the market. The connection between sales and digital marketing is in a vital position, considering the new opportunities that are created by digital transformation and the new digital platforms. In this article, the modern customer journey is reviewed through a step-by-step analysis. The connection between customer experience, digital marketing, and companies’ core operations is defined and analyzed in the changing digital environment.

In the world of constant change, societies, public institutions and private companies have to adapt themselves quicker and quicker. Today´s rapid changes in economy and business, caused by other hand globalization and another hand by quick changes in commercial relationships between major economic powers in the world, changes the world and businesses literally overnight. Disruptive innovations creates and destroys businesses as well. In these circumstances, need for rapid process from idea to business is more needed than ever before. Especially, in branch of health technology, development for solutions and systems is long and demanding process. This article handles process from idea to business by creating concept, which utilizes concurrent engineering methodology. Article creates the concept by integrating state of the art research from this domain and scrutinizes it´s suitability to be base for intermediary platform for medical device product development.

Time is the most important resource for leaders. People’s productivity, and hence organizations’ performance are heavily related to their time usage. Therefore, especially leaders should have conscious awareness towards their conscious awareness towards time. Employees’ commitment and engagement are one of the key contributors to organizational performance and its competitive advantage. It has many positive effects, both for workers and for their organization. Employees who identify to and are committed to their organization are likely to want to exert more effort on its behalf leading to improved productivity, quality, profitability and customer satisfaction. This article presents research of correlations between time management and organizational commitment of leaders in larger organizational change. Phenomena are scrutinized separately from both point of views and as combined. Analysis shows that there are significant correlations in all analyzed point of views. Future research aspects are also issued in this paper.

The purpose of this research is to scrutinize the difference between autocratic leadership and absence of leadership. We utilized simple division between autocratic leader and laissez-faire leader in order to find out how these stereotypical leaders’ are affecting the followers. Typically, autocratic leadership is situated to be bad leadership approach and follower’s freedom is emphasized. Cognitive constructivism and empowerment of followers are embracing the freedom and followers own responsibility. However, the question for best approach for leadership is too complex to be answered with easy solutions. Real world cases rarely fit to ideal models. In this article, we analyze how these two types of extreme ends in leadership behavior affect the followers’ feeling of certainty. We show how these approaches affect to followers by analyzing open answers with a mix method design with both quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Integrated Operations (IO) constituted a paradigm shift in offshore oil and gas operations. Access to information from data capture, fiber optics for data transfer, new ways of communication and education of the organizations enabled new and more effective models of operation. The background for this project has been to explore whether the same mechanisms that have proved effective in the oil industry can be reused in operation, maintenance and management of buildings. Special focus has been on how access to and dissemination of available data, analysis and visualization can contribute to more efficient work processes for management, operation, maintenance and development in the organisation. The project has formulated a concept for how this can be operationalized. The paper presents the development framework and the resulting operational concept. Key organizational capabilities identified are presented and explained.

Online retail has grown substantially over the years both globally and in South Africa. Technology continues to impact, influence and shape how and where consumers shop. The South African shopping Centre industry is the 5th largest in the world and houses South African retailers who account for over R900 Billion ($61 Billion) sales revenue or 15% of the GDP.This report investigated digital disruption in retailing, its impact on the South African Shopping Centre industry and the available strategies that may be employed to counteract any negative impacts. A desktop literature survey followed by qualitative analysis was employed in carrying out the research.The research found that digital disruption was causing a change in consumer behaviour that leads to a reduction in demand for retail space and lower rentals and retail property values. Available strategies to counteract these negative impacts were found to include a customer centric retail property business model, Shoppertainment, leveraging technology, repurposing shopping centers for other uses, developing green shopping centers and agile property management.

In recent years, with the rapid development of China’s economy, cultural and creative industries have gradually become an important part of the economic growth of China’s developing regions. Many enterprises in developing regions urgently need to transform and upgrade from OEM, ODM to OBM, also systematic brand design and transformation strategies. The effective excavation and utilization of the rich characteristic cultural resources in the developing areas will further promote the local economic growth and improve people’s quality of life. Service design, as a system design to coordinate the relationship among people, things, behaviors, environment and society, can help the developing regions to find their social and cultural values.This paper will take Songxi County, Fujian Province, China as an example, through analyzing the problems and bottlenecks in the development of local industries and enterprises, mining local cultural resources, understanding the needs of local residents, using the method of service design to explore and practice the design method of regional characteristic product brand system, constructing the “Integration-Connection-Transformation Mode” of regional characteristic product brand, and achieving the two-way circulation of resources between developing and developed regions through design can realize the redesign and brand innovation of local characteristic cultural products, and ultimately promote economic growth and cultural communication. This research is an effective practice and exploration for the service design method to enhance the regional product brand design, which will play a demonstration role in disseminating regional culture, boosting the developing region’s economy and promoting social innovation.

As part of the ongoing debate on ideal entrepreneurial competencies, this study seeks to introduce a generational dimension that explores how the generation an individual belongs to could be influential in determining their entrepreneurial competence. In its submission, this paper critically discusses the unique attributes of millennials in on how distinct they are in terms of personality traits from older generations (Baby Boomers and Generation X). The study reviews the literature on entrepreneurial competencies to map them to the personalities of various generational cohorts. The study then makes propositions as to why millennials possess unique entrepreneurial competencies that make them superior entrepreneurs than their predecessors. The findings of this study have significant implications for future research and practice as it offers a more defined basis for examining the competencies of entrepreneurs.

This paper deals with the dynamics of the expenses for maintaining biodiversity by various sources. Polish experience concerning the taxation of land preservation, involvement of local authorities to address issues of biodiversity preservation management is used to improve biodiversity management system. The analysis of state and local biodiversity management systems of Ukraine is done. Classification of biodiversity conservation functions is carried out. The economic effect of biodiversity functioning is estimated using forests and swamps ecosystems as an example. The necessity of biodiversity in the GDP of the state is justified. Improved geo-information system of the cadastral data bank of the objects of the nature reserve fund, which ensures the implementation of measures aimed at preventing the destruction or damage to the territories and objects of the nature reserve fund, is proposed.

Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) are critical for the energy transition towards environmentally friendly solutions. There are many international regulations enhancing climate change mitigation. However, on a national level, disruptive technologies often struggle with many various barriers. There is ample evidence supporting the claim that innovative energy technologies require the whole ecosystem to support their diffusion. In fact, it is often a case that the change starts at the regional level. Therefore, some country-specific limitations are worth investigating.In this study, we examine various barriers of renewable energy technologies diffusion in the case of two European countries: Finland and Poland in the first phase. It served to perform a comparative analysis in a second stage, revealing the similarities and differences between them. An analysis provides insightful knowledge about the current constraints of widespread and effective renewable energy technologies diffusion. As a conclusion, the directions and possibilities for improvement are suggested.

Aquaponics is an agricultural practice recognized as innovative and sustainable by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Aquaponics is experiencing a period of rapid interest by the scientific community, public decision-makers, start-ups and new generation of farmers and businessmen. In the United States, aquaponics vegetables products can be certified as organic, since 2008. In Europe, the first start-ups are just taking the first steps of industrial production. The COST Action FA 1305 allowed the development of a European Hub of aquaponics. Regarding the Portuguese market, the coverage of aquaponics by the media and broadcast has been intensive, as well as the scientific and public debate stimulated by the field. However, the socio-economic and institutional problems concerning to the commercial development of Portuguese aquaponics products remains unsolved. This study tries to overcome this gap and offers recommendations on how to promote the development of commercial aquaponics in Portugal. The methods include the qualitative analysis of interviews directed to the main stakeholders in aquaponics in Portugal. The results confirm problems at an institutional level that difficult the development of aquaponics in the Portuguese market. Yet, results seem to indicate that local decision-makers, entrepreneurs and few young farmers are very motivated to develop aquaponics in the Portuguese market. Therefore, we recommend more attention from public decision-makers to solve the main institutional restrictions of this innovative and sustainable activity.

Rising energy needs, concerns of energy security, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, climate change phenomenon and a push to utilize indigenous sources for energy generation purposes has encouraged the use of solar photovoltaics (PV). The technological advancements of the recent past, improvement in technologies’ performance, reduction in the prices, policy and regulatory support, and its applicability at household level has made solar energy as a preferred form of energy generation. However, despite its rapid diffusion, it is widely believed that its current application is insignificant compared to its potential. This leads us to ask why solar PV has not been adopted to the level it should have. The existing literature has highlighted a number of factors affecting solar PV adoption. This paper systematically reviews the literature to identify the factors that have been instrumental to solar PV adoption. By exploring the Scopus database, this research identifies 39 articles matching the study objectives. Findings of this research will help academics, technology companies and policymakers in understanding the factors influencing the process and proposing solutions to address these.

In the Internet Era, unprecedented opportunities and challenges have been brought to the public benefit field. As a new booming form of public benefit, “micro public benefit” has broken the limitations and boundedness of traditional public benefit. Purpose of this paper is to apply the novel ideas of “micro public benefit” to the service design field. First, this paper compares and analyzes differences between service models of traditional public benefit and “micro public benefit”. Then through case studies, the key points of “micro public benefit” service design are summarized. Finally, as an application case, a food sharing app is designed based on the key design points.

The right to adequate housing is enshrined in the South African constitution. Accordingly, social housing has been identified by the government as one of the strategic interventions to be pursued in the delivery of housing services to the poor. As public sector funds are limited, it is imperative to establish alternative mechanisms for financing social housing investments.A multiple case study approach reviewed social housing investment with specific reference to how they were financed, the challenges faced and whether there would have been a benefit in using alternative means of financing. This was supported by a literature review as well as interviews with relevant stakeholders.The results highlighted that funding for the sector is available primarily through government grants and loan funding from national and provincial DFIs. Private sector participants are willing to participate in the sector and have the resources to do so. Nonetheless, there are concerns from private sector participants around the regulatory framework and the availability of collateral on funding provided to the sector. Social Housing Institutions (SHIs) also noted that the SHRA should facilitate discussions on the development of ‘social housing agreements’ with municipalities that enable access to land, provide waivers on bulk contributions and afford SHIs rebates on municipal rates and tariffs. Successful delivery of social housing is dependent on both the private and public sector, sturdy institutions and a functional regulatory framework.

On July 1st, 2019, Shanghai officially launched a series of institutional arrangements related to garbage classification. According to statistics, the proportion of participation is less than 20%. The choice of garbage classification in Shanghai has become an obligation that must be performed, which is an inevitable result of the development of society. Therefore, this study aims to improve the Shanghai municipal waste service system from the perspective of user experience. The design of the thesis consists of the following three steps:(1) Investigate current municipal waste services. (2) Develop a model for urban waste services through service system design methods. (3) Tools for service system design include accompanying observations, questionnaire surveys, personas, stakeholder maps and other practices for the design of urban waste service systems. This design considers the optimization of urban waste systems with a service design method, which has certain reference significance for urban development and sustainable development.

The present research work has the purpose of identifying which are the key elements within the municipal governments in Mexico, which could be considered as the most significant areas of opportunity whose strategic attention would be a better performance in the fulfillment of their constitutional attributions, in the promotion of public policies capable of integrating the realities of its inhabitants and their communities, but also capable of incorporating into them actions and commitments derived from national and global agendas, also playing with the above, a more active role in the scene international contributing successful experiences in its institutional work.

Mining in Peru has existed for several decades, and for several years, there has been no proper environmental management of the impact of this activity on the environment and society in general, whether it be gas emissions, the presence of acidic water, or the generation of mining tailings. One of the most prominent examples involve mine tailings; these are by-products of mining processing plants and are stored in a dam known as a tailings dam. Like any extraction activity, mining generates large amounts of waste material that could become potential risks to the environment and society. Using hydraulic fills, the mine tailings contained in tailings dams could be reused. These fills seek to decrease the volume of stored tailings to prevent any future dam collapses, as observed in Brazil with the Vale mining company, where its tailings dam collapsed and caused more than 200 deaths.

Based on the review of different research studies, we could assess that, due to their unique biological features, microbes, specifically bacteria, could be used to repair damaged soils with heavy metal and toxic compound contents. Furthermore, these microorganisms are metabolically capable to oxidize cyanide and its by-products to generate less-toxic compounds at the end of the process. This research proposal seeks to improve conventional mine closure designs, thus counteracting their negative short-term, medium-term, and long-term after-effects to the environment. The proposed technique as a solution, therefore, is microbial remediation, using pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria to oxidize this compound to non-toxic components. It will ensure operational continuity for the deposits and, in turn, the sustainability of the entire mining industry.

This article analyzes the applicability of an appropriate design of blasting engineering for an underground mine to be used in a Peruvian grain context through the data collection and observation method using the Bieniawski rock mass geomechanical classification system, average vein power weighting, and operational dilution of the pits. The generation of solutions is under both the McCarthy approach formula and final results analysis of the dilution behavior obtained in relation to the initial ones. Moreover, the database provided by a mining company is analyzed with respect to the geological conditions for the rock mass classification of the roof box and floor box to determine the quality of the rock, ore grades, power of the vein, and the percentage of dilution. Then we proceed to determine the continuity and thickness of the vein in a given block and analyze the dilution based on the fundamental criteria of blasting engineering.

The application of conventional techniques, such as kriging, to model rock mass is limited because rock mass spatial variability and heterogeneity are not considered in such techniques. In this context, as an alternative solution, the application of the Gaussian simulation technique to simulate rock mass spatial heterogeneity based on the rock mass rating (RMR) classification is proposed. This research proposes a methodology that includes a variographic analysis of the RMR in different directions to determine its anisotropic behavior. In the case study of an underground deposit in Peru, the geomechanical record data compiled in the field were used. A total of 10 simulations were conducted, with approximately 6 million values for each simulation. These were calculated, verified, and an absolute mean error of only 3.82% was estimated. It is acceptable when compared with the value of 22.15% obtained with kriging.

Several factors affect the activities of the mining industry. For example, accident rates are critical because they affect company ratings in the stock market (Standard & Poors). Considering that the corporate image is directly related to its stakeholders, this study conducts an accident analysis using quantitative and qualitative methods. In this way, the contingency rate is controlled, mitigated, and prevented while serving the needs) of the stakeholders. The Bayesian network method contributes to decision-making through a set of variables and the dependency relationships between them, establishing an earlier probability of unknown variables. Bayesian models have different applications, such as diagnosis, classification, and decision, and establish relationships among variables and cause–effect links. This study uses Bayesian inference to identify the various patterns that influence operator accident rates at a contractor mining company, and therefore, study and assess the possible differences in its future operations.

This paper illustrates how the Bieniawski rock mass rating geomechanics classification, within the support system used by medium-scale mining companies, allows for the development of a new anchor rock bolt selection method aimed at improving horizontal access stability in underground mines. However, this case study only seeks to select the most efficient anchor rock bolt for any given horizontal access. A proper support selection method is very important for mining companies because this decision will safeguard both miners and mining infrastructure. This selection process will ultimately prevent fatal accidents, which is critical for mining companies today, especially considering the constant operation standstills reported in Peru.

This research study focuses on creating a drill pattern for the Condestable mine, which will allow us to assess the percentage of dilution. For these purposes, we used the Pearse formula proposed in 1955, which allowed us to find the burden and later, the spacing that each drill hole should have in the pattern. Once we had collected all the numerical data, we used the JK SimBlast program to design the proposed drill pattern and analyze the damage zones, the tonnage acquired and the existing dilution. According the results obtained, the smaller the hole diameter, the less dilution will be generated when diversifying the wall and ceiling explosives.

This article is concerned with how the “Faculty Policies and Practices” dimension of the Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement’s (CIGE) Comprehensive Internationalization Framework [1] applies to Arnhem Business School (HAN University of Applied Sciences), the Netherlands. According to the model, institutional policies and mechanisms of support enhance the faculty opportunities to develop international skills and can maximize the impact of these experiences on student learning while helping identify implementation strategies that support internationalization at the university level. Based on the targeted expert interviews at Arnhem Business School (ABS), tenure and promotion policies, hiring guidelines, faculty mobility and on-campus professional development will be documented, assessed and disused in terms of policies, practices, actions and outcomes in line with the university internationalization goals. In order to introduce internationalization as a key pillar such criteria are globally focused and interlinked with various “glocal” stakeholders to enhance the ABS personalized internationalization strategy.

Public discussion on the role and responsibility of higher education institutions in shaping society of the future began in 2001 [1] The answer to the question of how sustainable development should be understood and what it brings for universities came from the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 which described sustainable development as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. The future role of the university should be widely discussed. Education provided outside of higher education institutions should also be considered as important for society. The system of higher education needs reshaping to become more transdisciplinary, open to eliminate barriers and ready for new partnerships.

This research analyses student engagement and motivation data gathered from a UK-based private business university and multiple European public universities. The data was obtained using an Internet-based generic expert system called Evolute. In this research, the self-evaluation results from 40 undergraduate business school students were subjected to comparison analysis using an effect size described by Cohen’s d-values. Using the effect size in the analysis helps to easily identify the areas or the specific items where the benchmarked university is doing well compared to others, as well as to find out the areas or items that could be subjected for improvement. According to the results, the benchmarked institution scored higher mean values in 95% of statements than all the other cases conducted with the instrument at public universities.

Looking into the importance and relevance of leaders in international higher education institutions, the author starts his journey by reviewing literature on global, effective and successful leadership to anchor his own understanding of international leadership. This paper is positioned as a design research paper on the concept of University International Leadership. By conducting targeted expert interviews, the author takes into account in his model the Leader Personal Dynamics (Attitude, Behavior, Competencies, Skills, Knowledge) and Glocal University Dynamics where International University Leaders operate. The Glocal concept fits the strategy of a University of Applied Sciences as Arnhem Business School, the Netherlands, to stay globally relevant but also keep its local identity. University international leaders need to create a good understanding of where it adds value to be global and where it is better to be local developing the right mindset and skillset required to succeed in this complex international environment.

The research of the psychological readiness development of high school pupils to enter higher education institutions and to pass an external independent assessment based on the implementation of the author’s program “Successful entrant” has been revealed in the article. The analysis of psychological literature on this issue has been made. The problem of professional self-determination of high school pupils, their psychological readiness for admission and its structure represented by emotional, motivational and volitional components have been considered. With the help of empirical research, the increase of levels of identified components and psychological readiness in general have been found out.

This article proposes a new approach model that frames International Entrepreneurship in a “Glocal” context where co-creation is essential by providing stakeholders with knowledge, insights and skills in how they can create new business models, develop new and existing businesses towards an output of Sustainable Employability. The model functions as a conceptual model and as starting point for future international case studies. This new model can help bridge the gap between the knowledge co-creation triangle professional field, education and research while enabling an in-depth exploration of which transferable international entrepreneurial skills and behaviors need to be developed. Additionally, the way students adopt skills must be adapted and this can be achieved by a more symbiotic relationship between employers and universities. Examining the most desired skills by local employers, in various regions and countries, provides context and incentive to act on this insight, allowing universities and students to make informed decisions.

We conducted the research taking into consideration the fact that in organization of the professional training of a social worker for work with young people it is necessary to focus on the formation of high level professional culture, the development of the needs for constant professional development, as these should guarantee the success and effectiveness of the activities in the modern educational environment. The purpose of the experimental work was to check the competences gained at the workshops of the Youth Centre “START” and to determine the relevance of such competences. The survey engaged 48 participants who were students obtaining Bachelor and Master degrees at Social and Psychological Education Department in Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University. The respondents chose 13 competences among 31 proposed positions. In student youth’s opinion, the youth worker should have basic competences. As a result we identified 5 main competences, which students had claimed in their questionnaire as the most relevant ones. The results of the research confirm the opinion that in the process of organizing the professional preparation of a social worker to work with young people, it is necessary to emphasize the formation of a high level of professional culture, the development of needs for continuous professional self-improvement, which is a guarantee of success and efficiency of activities in a modern educational environment. Therefore, the development of the theory and practice of vocational training for youth workers is on the agenda; research of the problem of the subjects of social and educational sphere in preparation of social workers for work with youth; development of theoretical and methodological bases and recommendations for training specialists for youth work; scientific support for youth policy areas; practical application of scientific research in youth work, etc.

At present, the world faces opportunities and challenges in diverse sceneries: economic, social, technological, among others; further the making decisions influence adverse or beneficial within the local, regional or global community; the adoption, knowledge and use of new information technologies and the backing of professionals in computer science are fundamental at organizations. The decreasing student enrollment in information and communication technology (ICT) program in higher education in Mexico is a latent concern in the near and immediate future. This study is quantitative, non-experimental, transectional, descriptive and correlational. Data was collected on middle higher education student located in the Tijuana city. These results show that student who study area of specialization of computing science, do not know the general objective and profile of computer programs in higher education institution (HEI). This research article product derived doctoral thesis, present the hackathon-edu proposal in educational marketing (EM) for student recruitment in ICT professional career.

Electric power grid operation companies are in need for renewal and restructuring due to the introduction of local renewable energy production and changed patterns of energy and effect consumption, combined with strong political incentives for electrification. This paper present how development of two supporting capabilities has contributed in improvement of organizational performance. The two capabilities are (1) analytics, the capacity and ability to process and analyze data, together with (2) collaboration, the capacity and ability to effectively involve relevant expertise and authority at the right time in decision making regardless of organizational and geographical location.

Nowadays, SME industries in the plastics sector fail to work with their maximum installed capacity, among the main factors are lack of market, normal or inevitable and conventional or technical stops, will be dealt with in this investigation. The problem is evident in 71.45%, the average percentage of capacity used in the plastics industries in Peru. Therefore, this article proposes the development of a three-phase production model and complements the Planned Maintenance pillar with Lean tools that seek to improve the capacity used by 17% in industries in the sector. The model starts with the 5S as a basis and support to standardize the ordering and cleaning habits to continue with SMED and Planned Maintenance of TPM. The model was validated with an implementation, an 18% increase in the production capacity used, so it can be concluded that the proposal for improvement presented serves as a reference for future research.

Through digital transformation, company processes that are, or could be, conducted manually are reduced; moreover, human tasks are automated when software-based processes are established. This paper analyzes the adoption of a digital transformation tool to manage inventory through the application of agile models, such as Just-In-Time, and the use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), employing the Deming cycle method, as several unclear empiric processes exist for managing inventory and purchases. It also upholds that as defined processes are established and the companies exert higher control over inventory turnover and outflows, they could apply methods, such as demand forecasting, to avoid stockout, supply shortage, and inventory loss.

Electric power distribution grid operators (DSOs) are facing new requirements due to increased introduction of renewable energy, increased flexibility, and a tighter integration with customers. Although there is broad agreement that DSOs are at the heart of the transition towards decarbonized energy, there is little knowledge of what this means in terms of work system changes for the DSOs and how to approach the issue. In this paper, we present results from our work with defining and detailing organizational capabilities that enable the DSO to deliver in the future market. We find that the DSO need to professionalize its capabilities innovation, collaboration, analytics and influence because these are expected to face increasing demands. Using a participative approach as part of the re-design process was important to understand the resource development needs.

Even though there is a high demand for clothing articles in the market, they do not meet quality standards. This can be appreciated after the clothes are washed and dried and the study revealed that over 20% of the items were returned each month. This occurs when the acquisition of raw materials is focused exclusively on the price. Thus, there are no requirements for compliance with any technical specifications that would enable the production process to be equipped with quality raw materials. Additionally, the absence of control over the quantity of consumables based on demand generates reprocessed inventory, thus damaging the fabric. Therefore, the proposed model was made through the Lean Six Sigma method to reduce waste and meet client requirements. The results were a decrease in returns by over 16.5% and an increase in productivity by 28.5%.

This research focuses on a proposal to improve the purchase and supply processes for the food sector. An appropriate model for procurement management and monitoring is established. It is then validated that an adequate input purchase process reduces costs and improves the service quality of companies, which reduces delivery times to provide satisfactory service. Lean manufacturing tools, such as Value Stream Mapping (VSM), were applied to carry out the initial diagnosis of the process, activity analysis, and time measurements. Finally, the new process was standardized, and continuous improvement was achieved by applying purchasing management techniques. The research was experimental, and a pilot test was carried out in a company in the food sector. The results show that with the implementation of the new procedures, this company reduced the percentage of late deliveries, improved its service level and therefore its position in the industry.

Submitting offers is part of the daily routine in sales and one important question is what gets read of such offers and where is attention oriented. We used eye tracking for testing a one-page quotation on a technical product. It seems that Germans and Finns have a similar pattern of attention and fixated on all relevant aspects of the offer, while Germans did not pay as much attention to pricing details and terms and conditions, and did not fixate as often as the Finnish participants. Finnish participants took more time reading the examples and had slightly more difficulty understanding the information.

This research seeks to estimate a gravity model that allows to characterize trade between Latin American economies. An indexed triple gravity model is proposed, which considers fixed effects of time, exporting country and importing country. The gravity equations have been widely used for the prediction of international trade flows, but many of the models used for these purposes have problems of poor specification from an econometric point of view. Thus, the proposed model seeks to include simultaneously new variables or variables that have been consider independently, as well as, to provide a correct economic inference of the Latin American regional trade flows.

The aim of this research is to critically review absorptive capacity conceptualization and operationalization. Although Cohen and Levinthal [1] emphasized multidimensionality of absorptive capacity, researchers have conceptualized it as a unidimensional construct, encompassing knowledge acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation. From epistemological and ontological perspectives, knowledge acquisition and assimilation differ from other capacities, namely, knowledge transformation and exploitation. Knowledge acquisition and assimilation represent knowledge conversion from explicit-to- tacit and tacit-to-tacit processes that should be done at the individual level of analyses. Accumulated and assimilated knowledge with organization learning facilitate the transformative process to exploit knowledge for business purposes. Thus, absorptive capacity (ACAP) should be conceptualized and operationalized as a multilevel, multidimensional and latent construct involving distinctly dynamic capabilities. It involves a new way of thinking from epistemological and ontological perspectives. In addition, there is a paucity of research regarding ACAP measurement and specification. The current research provides a theoretical framework on how the measurement of ACAP should be taken in terms of its relation to indicators and order level.

The trust and perceptions that can be generated between civil society and organizations receiving philanthropy are key to a link that becomes more complex, since there is evidence of distrust in local and global social contexts that raise new forms of intermediation necessary to the measurement. The research aims to focus on the types of donations that Chileans, as natural persons, are delivering or are willing to deliver in recent months, also marked by a context of greater economic uncertainty. The measurement made in this research has a national character, with consultations in all regions of the country, incorporating data science techniques in the collection and automated processing of information for mass data. The results of the research show that a majority of the population at the national level would be willing to donate money to a charitable cause (91.58%), while 66.41% declare to have donated money to a charitable cause in the last 12 months.

The purpose of this research is to determine the factors that affect the insertion and job positioning of women professional graduates of the public accountant and auditor of the Universidad del Bío-Bío, Chile. The data were obtained through a questionnaire applied to the graduates. Given the dichotomous nature of the dependent variable, logistic regression models are used, for which linear probability models will be used. Three different models are tested for the endogenous variables: average time it takes to find your first job; liquid remuneration of the graduate and the current position of the graduate. The results indicate that the variable that most affects the labor insertion is the recommendation of third parties, meanwhile, that for the job positioning is the postgraduate.

Accurate prediction of the development trend of various macroeconomic indicators can provide effective support for scientific government decision-making and accurate social governance. Based on the limitations of current macro-economic big data statistics, it is a formidable challenge to establish accurate and robust prediction models using small samples with high characteristic dimensions. Based on copula-based Granger analysis, we analyzed the relationship between macroeconomic indicators and extracted low-dimensional features of data by combining independent component analysis and partial least square method. On this basis, we further use the kernel function method to complete the virtual sample training set to train the support vector regression model to predict the macroeconomic indicators and obtain better experimental results.

The Direction Orientation Task (DOT) was developed as a test of spatial ability and processing speed. It is used by several US military services as part of their respective cognitive selection batteries for military aviators. Previous attempts to improve the task exposed an additional concern: specifically, the majority of participants were applying a mathematical strategy to the task, and these participants were outperforming those using a spatial strategy. This paper discusses the development of a newer version of the DOT designed to push participants towards using a spatial strategy. A group of student Naval Aviators completed the new version and were more than twice as likely to employ a spatial strategy compared to a math strategy. Because the original DOT is the only measure of spatial ability currently used to select naval aviation candidates, additional testing should assess whether it is actually measuring the desired construct.

Approaching the study of the current over-supply of Contemporary Art Fairs from the viewpoint of assemblage theory is what we explored value within this paper. Base on the literature review of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) that gives us an enlightening vocabulary and framework to approach how Art021 built their business network. We connect the case from contemporary art market to analysis the specific art collaborations. The network assembled a number of galleries, collectors, art media and public attending in a certain location and time to construct various projects, campaigns, and exchange. This study set out with the aim of shaping the co-create interest among different stakeholders and describe their marketing solution during the art fair.

Managers are defined by their roles, responsibilities and characteristics aligned with the business goals and objective. In this, regard, the performance of the Organization, largely depend on the quality of management and leadership activities. In many cases, lack of managerial experience, incompetency, lack of leadership skills and inappropriate work experience are the major contributory factor to organizational and business failures. From studies, a major challenge within organizations is associated with restricted channels for innovation in decision-making and process optimization for managers. High emphasis on following the standardized processes, and procedures is another identified challenge. The gap between management and leadership strategies is often phenomenal. Most of the managers use the management functions of controlling, organizing, planning and directing for the applications of principles in connecting resources effectively and achieving the organizational goal without using their own personal strategies. Managers’ are generally trained to follow the policies, processes and procedures handed by their seniors whereas; leaders are there to create solutions to problems encountered in the organization on continuous basis. It is important for managers to equip themselves with both leadership and management skills, in order to be multi-facetted on problem solving without following the standardized processes and procedures. The controlling, planning, organizing and directing role of managers will be highly effective when it is merged with the leadership skills and roles in achieving objectives of that policy. It requires the art of leadership skills to motivate employees towards achieving the common goal set by the organization. Under the inadequate management systems, the members of the organization would pursue their own daily agenda which results in resource and time misuse, causing various failure loops in an organization. The research reviews methods applied in different instances and it communicates the inferences identified based on obvious patterns and correlations that have effectively worked for organizations burdened with similar challenges.

2017 is the year of the explosion of smart speakers, because of the gradual maturity of voice interaction technology and the development of artificial intelligence technology. The production of smart speakers is constantly increasing, and the function of smart speakers is constantly improved and perfected. Also, there are more and more application scenarios of smart speakers. It is seen as a key entrance point for the smart home of the future. At the same time, there are various marketing strategies for smart speakers in the era of intelligent interconnection, and the traditional marketing theory combines with the current new marketing strategy. Based on this, this article analyzes the development status and marketing strategy of smart speakers and discusses its existing problems and the development of marketing strategies.

Maritime activities, including sea transport, fishing, and marine tourism are closely tied to the lives of many Filipinos for the Philippines being archipelagic and consist of 7,100 islands. It is therefore natural for many Filipinos to pursue a maritime career by attending maritime education and training (MET) programs [1]. Filipinos used to be the leading supplier of seafarers in the global market, however in recent years, China, Russia and other seafarer-supplying countries are pushing up their ranks. A global estimate in the demand of seafarers is 92,000 in 2020 to 147, 500 in 2025 [2]. However, in order to build the maximum capacity of Filipino seafarers, the need to provide inclusive MET as well as the reduction of economic and geographical inequalities among the different regions. This paper compares selected MET institutions’ access by numbers in different administrative regions and presents preliminary analysis on the influence of governance in terms of accessibility to MET.

Research on work and gender identity is still scarce in different occupational groups. This study focuses on seafaring professions on cargo ships where women’s representation remains low globally. Various gender-related challenges associated with work on board faced by women were reported; however, it is not well understood how women seafarers cope with the transition from ship (work) to shore (home) in terms of their gender identities. Based on 36 in-depth interviews, the research found that women’s gender identities may be conflicting when moving from ship to shore. During vacations, the cases revealed negotiation of gender identities in their local communities ashore. Such extra challenges for women affected their seafaring careers. The study identified a lack of understanding and support of complex socio-cultural issues concerning women seafarers ashore.

In times of digital transformation and often-disruptive markets, companies have to continuously optimize their existing business models and at the same time promote new products and services as well as organizational structures and working processes. Human creativity in combination with artificial intelligence and cognitive systems are key enablers for organizations to optimize their business and better predict and control their innovation processes. Optimized symbiotic interaction between humans and machines needs a methodological approach in order to design and evaluate enhanced innovation processes for generating new ideas and implementing innovative hybrid working scenarios. In this paper, the authors present key elements for the optimization of innovation processes based on established creativity techniques and potentials of cognitive systems.

This paper presents an empirical study based on the business game simulation method to investigate relationships between gamified metrics-based information provisioning on the shop floor, operational performance and work motivation. For this purpose, we transferred our human-centered performance management approach from previous research into an assembly application scenario. This scenario framed the study design content wise using the method of business game simulation. To this point, we conducted the developed business game amongst 135 trainees in technical vocational schools in Germany. Initially, the obtained data is evaluated with respect to operational performance using descriptive statistics. The findings provide first evidence that metrics-based information provisioning might positively affect operational performance in terms of reworks and errors compared to no information provisioning.

Nowadays, we are immersed in a world of information, a world of increased and unprecedented interdependence and complexity that is causing a radical alteration of our way of communicating, acting, thinking and expressing. In this young century, companies whose specialty cannot adapt to a constantly changing environment are destined to crash course over time. Digital technologies have created a new scenario for human thinking, learning and communication, have changed the nature of the tools available for thinking, acting and expressing. Technology is part of a knowledge environment that will determine the future of resources in teaching and the dissemination of knowledge, leading to important changes in the sustainability and development of the same knowledge. For the Mexican economy, it is necessary to make adjustments and adaptations to absorb the knowledge that foreign companies bring, seeking to make intellectual capital one of its pillars of growth. That is why in order to achieve efficient management it is necessary to make an analysis of the technologies that the world is implementing to boost the growth of Mexican companies.

The endeavor to establish a faculty leadership by shaping the best practices in strategic planning of the internationalization process is the major contribution to knowledge of this study. From a conceptual perspective, different levels of internationalization are examined within this research, trying to associate these levels to the general background of institutional strategic planning concerning globalization and internationalization agendas. The present study seeks to fill the gap in research regarding the manner of implementation at the HAN University of Applied Sciences (Arnhem Business School), the Netherlands and Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Russia regarding the goals of internationalization agendas. This comparative study brings into the light best practices to be learned from and it describes how the objectives of internationalization processes are achieved. The approach to learning from best practices creates not only awareness but also develops new learning practices that could be implemented to enhance the global competitiveness.

This article aims at providing a 0.0 measurement and assessment of how Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Russia perceives the importance of their impact on society, education and various stakeholders. Based on and using The University Impact Rankings 2019 by Sustainable Development Goals: quality education methodology, the author is making a starting point in a comprehensive analysis to explore Plekhanov university impact rankings for individual SDGs. He starts with the SDG 4 (Quality Education) as it seems the most relevant measurement and assessment tool at the moment. The present study seeks to fill the gap in research regarding the manner of implementation at mentioned university regarding the SDG goals and describes how the objectives of internationalization processes are determined by the higher education regulations and policies inside the HEIs.

Managing modern merchant vessels is quite challenging task for shipboard personnel, as well as for shore-based managers in shipping companies. The risks are more so accentuated in terms of vessels that carry dangerous and volatile cargoes, such as tanker vessels. Modern industrial disasters have demonstrated that organizations have a considerable role to play in terms of ensuring adequate safety climate in day-to-day operations at the sharp end. This study explores Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that are necessary for tanker vessel managers to ensure that the ships operate as safe as possible. A literature review focused on the shipping industry and tanker vessels in specific, revealed CSFs such as – human factors, technical factors, environmental factors, organizational factors, regulatory factors, and economic factors, as well several sub factors. The results can provide a basis for further systematic analyses of the CSFs and how they are perceived by the shipping managers in their order of relative importance.

Companies have invested in implementing Ergonomic Programs aiming to reduce work related ergonomic risks and diseases and consequently, reduce sick leave costs and indemnities in labor suits. However, it should also be noted that these efforts are focused on reactive measures. In this way, the programs become vulnerable and inconsistent. The purpose of this article is to propose a Ergonomic Management Model based on applying principles of Resilience Engineering. It has been applied in a consumer goods industry in Brazil with 6000 employees, creating ergonomic processes and establishing actions to guarantee the program sustainability based on the concepts of Resilience Engineering. As a result, the practice of anticipating ergonomic risks on all fronts of ergonomics was the main benefit, generating as a socioeconomic impact the promotion of workers’ health, reduction of absences from work and guaranteeing a sustainable ergonomic program.

Competitive environment along with the “24/7 Society” characterized by a perfectionist approach to work have become a real challenge for contemporary employees. They must frequently maintain a high working tempo, carry the workload, take increasingly more responsibilities, and face constant changes. Consequently, employees may feel threatened – either psychologically or socially. Leaders have a crucial role in this stressful working environment. They could both predict and reduce the feeling of vulnerability of employees and boost their self-confidence. Leaders could inspire employees, or conversely, make them feel unhappy or unsatisfied. Hence, leaders affect the socio-psychological experiences of the employees. Appropriate behaviors of leaders can ensure sustainable positive socio-psychological experiences; however, negative inappropriate behaviors can be treated as working environment threats and stressors. The aim of the paper is to reveal the critical leadership behavior-based threats and rewards that shape the socio-psychological experience of employees thus suggesting how leaders could ensure positive socio-psychological experiences for employees.

The world economy continues to grow at an ever-increasing pace and as a result, has created additional demand for new buildings. This has placed an ever-increasing demand for experienced construction managers with learned and practically applied skills to competently deliver successful projects. South Africa is no exception to this phenomenon. To retain skilled construction managers projects must be well managed from the outset. Having the correct policies and procedures in place will assist with this requirement. Motivating factors play a large role to assist construction managers in achieving their best and keeping their focus. Thus, how to motivate them is key to ensuring that a project delivers on; quality, time and within budget. This paper attempts to identify factors that motivate construction managers and assist construction companies to retain them. For this purpose, structured interviews were conducted at the University of Pretoria and a mixed-method approach was followed. Data was collected from construction professionals with a minimum of 10 years of construction site experience within the Gauteng Region of South Africa. The decisive factor was the work environment conditions and this included factors like; creating job security, give employees a sense of belonging, mentors giving constructive criticism, listening to problems, acting on them and thus giving support, reducing long working hours, improved site office facilities, regular relaxing social events within the company. Results from a recent research project have identified three items that are needed to retain construction managers. These included; a good work environment and extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. It was found not uncommon that if an offer to be employed at an alternative company with less salary, but with a more comfortable work environment was available, then this would be a viable option. Construction companies should invest more effort to improve their work environment and further tailor-make their extrinsic and intrinsic awards systems.

The service companies in Colombia, as part of their organizational management actions, see in the standards and policies of customer service, a projection for their sustainability in the market. Methods, mixed type study with a descriptive approach, carried out in 7 service companies, with 129 workers. The workers signed the informed consent for the collection of information. Application of the instrument battery questionnaires for the evaluation of psychosocial risk factors, which has reliability levels for intra-labor conditions of 0.957 and stress of 0.83 [1].Accidents reported in workplaces are associated with stress situations caused by emotional states after a stressed interaction with a user. It is necessary to design training programs to develop socio-emotional skills.

Job satisfaction is significant to the development of organisations and well-being of workers. This concept is important for retaining workers, improving productivity, enhancing employee loyalty and increasing profit. Given that no meta-analysis has been conducted to compare job satisfaction amongst different occupations, this study analyses the level of job satisfaction amongst different occupations through a meta-analysis. The occupation with the highest value of odds ratio (OR) with job satisfaction is drivers, followed by office workers, disciplined services, nurses and physicians. By contrast, the occupation with the lowest OR is teachers. Job satisfaction is positively associated with a high tendency of suffering from occupational fatality. In addition, job satisfaction is related with turnover, productivity and revenue of organisations. However, the high occurrence of occupational fatality might affect the attitude of organisations on whether they should boost workers’ job satisfaction.