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The purpose of this paper is to present how my positionality as a researcher aligned with the works of Latour in terms of methodological inspirations and allowed me to develop a critical vantage point and simultaneously adopt a heterogeneously rather than hierarchically informed approach to ordering the world, which I argue serves as a basis for a more inclusive study of management systems.

I reflect on my own positionality as a researcher and share how my interpretation of Latour's ontology through some of his ideas and concepts, particularly symmetry, power, translation and agency, allowed me to incorporate and organize heterogeneous actors depicted in different empirical materials into space-time contexts and subsequently theorize organizing and management practices as agential, multiple and becoming.

A base in Latour’s ontology has equipped me with openness towards empirical settings, which I argue retains a democratic approach to theorization, i.e. theorization, which remains mindful of inadvertent assumptions about power, hierarchy or the taken for granted. This approach has also given me a form of personal resilience as a researcher.

The originality of this paper lies in presenting and developing the concept of method as democratizing. I argue that Latour’s approach to the empirical allows for at least two forms of active democratizing, one relating to the researcher as self and the other in how it incorporates the empirical actors into research, making possible the inclusivity of heterogeneity in analyses of organizations and organizing.

Academic integrity is vital to the success and sustainability of the academic project and particularly critical in the training of ethical and informed health professionals. Yet studies have found that cheating in online exams was commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the increased use of online and blended learning post-COVID-19, an understanding of student cheating dynamics is essential for developing effective strategies to combat academic dishonesty in the rapidly changing educational landscape.

This study explored academic integrity and reasons for dishonesty from the perspective of health sciences students at a South African University of Technology (UOT) via the Fraud Diamond. To gain an in-depth understanding of the topic, a qualitative method was employed, and data were collected via focus group discussions with nine student class representatives. These data were analysed thematically using the Clarke and Braun approach.

Cheating during online assessment was common and innovative, with students manipulating others and exploiting friendships to facilitate dishonest practices. Student motivations for dishonesty included a lack of consequences and pressure due to a lack of time management, engagement and preparation.

This study underscores the need for institutions to adopt an adaptable, multi-faceted approach that addresses student cheating opportunity, motivation and normalisation of dishonest practices whilst strengthening academic integrity policies and enforcement thereof.

The findings contribute valuable insights into the ongoing academic integrity crisis in higher education in the South African context.

Client-led service innovation has gained currency in academic libraries owing to ever-shifting client preferences. Library clients are interested in determining which services libraries should offer to meet their information needs. Several studies have investigated service innovation or improvement in libraries with an emphasis on client involvement. However, it is not clear whether the reward culture influences client-focused service innovation in the context of Uganda.

This multiple-case study triangulated data from a survey of 80 staff members, three semi-structured interviews conducted with three library heads, and data from institutional documents. Data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively.

The results indicated that the financial reward culture did not influence client-led service innovation in any way; instead, non-financial rewards had an impact. Therefore, library managers need to appreciate that clients are no longer interested in financial rewards, but rather in non-financial rewards that have enduring value.

The study underscores the importance of client-led services in an information environment that has been invaded by industry 4.0 and calls upon librarians to use the opportunity to provide innovative services.

This study aims to understand the mechanisms driving individuals to utilise and engage in edu-business and contribute to the industry’s development, even when they face criticism. To that end, this paper, focussing on corporate stories, explores the cultural strategies education companies employ to expand their businesses overseas.

This paper examines the case study of Kumon Institute of Education, a key player in the Japanese edu-business sector. The analysis is based on interviews conducted between 2019 and 2021 with four public relations officers who possess extensive knowledge of the company’s history. Additionally, it draws on government and company documents, as well as newspaper articles. The analysis focusses on the narrative isomorphism between the company and the government from the provider’s perspective.

Kumon’s corporate stories and narratives have been shaped by the history, culture and policies of Japan, its country of origin, rather than adopting a bottom-up approach or embracing neoliberal values. As the company expanded its international reach, its Japanese identity became a cornerstone of its narrative, heightening the appeal of its stories through the use of expert discourse and historic cultural resources. Recently, a synergy has developed between the public and private sectors in the realm of education export, reinforcing the distinctly Japanese nature of the company, which is particularly appealing to both users and employees.

This paper focusses on the edu-business itself, analysing cultural strategies that go beyond the functional aspects of management or services to understand how edu-businesses have attracted people.

This study aims to find the main contributions from lean office (LO) that can be applied to the project management field, correlating these two areas toward an improvement in project management performance.

This paper uses a systematic literature review as a methodological approach to find the main potential contributions from LO that can be applied to project management.

This study has selected the 13 most cited potential contributions from LO and its level of occurrence in a systematic literature review (SLR).

This study explores theoretical aspects of LO benefits on project management, and further empirical studies are needed to determine the risks and benefits of the concept listed here.

The practical implications are that the most cited potential contribution from LO to the project management and those can be used as a guidance for project managers.

This article highlights the potential contributions from LO to project management field, which is novelty in the face of the existent literature.

Researchers and practitioners have recently been interested in corporate sustainability performance (CSP). However, knowledge on measuring CSP is limited. Many CSP-measurements are eclectic, without guidance for contextual applications. This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework that categorizes, explains and evaluates measurements based on their accuracy and precision and provides a guideline for their context-specific application.

The authors conducted a systematic literature review of an initial sample of 1,415 papers.

The final sample of 74 papers suggested four measurement categories: isolated indicators, indicator frameworks, Sustainability Balanced Scorecards (SBSC) and Sustainability Performance Measurement Systems (SPMS). The analysis reveals that isolated indicators are inaccurate and imprecise, limiting their application to organizations with delimited, specific measurements of parts of CSP due to the risk of a GIGO-effect (i.e. low-quality input will always produce low-quality output). CSP-indicator frameworks are imprecise but accurate, making them applicable to organizations that handle a more significant amount of CSP data. They have a risk of greensplashing, i.e. many indicators not connected to the industry, organization or strategy. In contrast, SBSCs are precise but inaccurate and valuable for organizations desiring a comprehensive strategic management tool with limited capacity to handle sustainability issues. They pose a risk of the streetlight effect, where organisations do not measure relevant indicators but what is easy to measure.

The ideal CSP-measurement was identified as SPMSs, which are both precise and accurate. SPMSs are useful for organizations with complex, comprehensive, connected and tailored indicators but are methodologically challenging.

Authorities have set up numerous security checkpoints during times of armed conflict to control the flow of commercial and humanitarian trucks into and out of areas of conflict. These security checkpoints have become highly utilized because of the complex security procedures and increased truck traffic, which significantly slow the delivery of relief aid. This paper aims to improve the process at security checkpoints by redesigning the current process to reduce processing time and relieve congestion at checkpoint entrance gates.

A decision-support tool (clearing function distribution model [CFDM]) is used to minimize the effects of security checkpoint congestion on the entire humanitarian supply network using a hybrid simulation-optimization approach. By using a business process simulation, the current and reengineered processes are both simulated, and the simulation output was used to estimate the clearing function (capacity as a function of the workload). For both the AS-IS and TO-BE models, key performance indicators such as distribution costs, backordering and process cycle time were used to compare the results of the CFDM tool. For this, the Kerem Abu Salem security checkpoint south of Gaza was used as a case study.

The comparison results demonstrate that the CFDM tool performs better when the output of the TO-BE clearing function is used.

The efforts will contribute to improving the planning of any humanitarian network experiencing congestion at security checkpoints by minimizing the impact of congestion on the delivery lead time of relief aid to the final destination.

I aimed to analyze and synthesize the literature on sustainable HRM and its sub-concepts, such as green HRM and socially responsible HRM, with the focus on research conducted in the Visegrad Group (V4) countries. I posed the following research questions: (1) What are the main characteristics of sustainable HRM research in the worldwide literature? (2) What are the main characteristics of research conducted in the V4 countries? (3) Which future research directions are promising gaps to be filled by research conducted in V4 countries?

For the purpose of this study, I applied bibliometric analysis, scientific network analysis and in-depth content analysis.

The results of the analyses of articles indexed in the Scopus database revealed that there is a growing trend in research on sustainable HRM. However, scarce research comes from the V4; scholars have conducted such studies only in Slovakia and Poland. There are five thematic clusters in the main sample, though the concept of green HRM has been explored the most. Although the keyword network analysis showed that the V4 articles focus mostly on sustainable HRM, the in-depth content analysis provided evidence that the V4 sample represented all concepts.

This is the first study to analyze the achievements of scientists from the V4 in this research field. It applies methodological rigor and a mixed-method approach. Moreover, it presents directions of research that go beyond the recommendations presented in the analyzed articles.

The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to determine the perceptions of preservice teachers (PSTs) on the effectiveness of instructional rounds as a clinical experience in promoting awareness of student diversity and supporting the acquisition of professional knowledge (Essential 2).

The instructional rounds were implemented in a junior-level general pedagogy course prior to formal clinical experiences. Professional development school (PDS) personnel supported the course instructors by scheduling the classroom observations, supervising groups of PSTs and debriefing the PSTs after each observation (Essentials 4 and 8). The data were collected through an end-of-course survey of 18 secondary PSTs.

There were several themes that emerged from the analysis of data. First, the study revealed that PSTs credited the variety of campuses visited as supporting their awareness of student diversity and varied instructional strategies. Second, PSTs acknowledged that the instructional rounds supported their connection of theory to practice. Finally, over 70% of the participants noted that they most enjoyed in-person experiences in different classrooms to observe students and teachers in action.

The findings for this study were specific to the teacher preparation program (TPP) utilized for the research. Each TPP requires different coursework and clinical experiences; therefore, the inclusion of instructional rounds may not be possible in all programs. Yet, the implementation of the rounds as a PST experience prior to clinical experiences is a strategy to consider to support the preparation of PSTs for their clinical experiences.

This study supports the continuation of instructional rounds at the teacher preparation program where the research was conducted. This research also informs other TPPs that strive to provide early clinical experiences that support PSTs’ emerging perceptions of student diversity and applications of instructional knowledge.

Leadership educators have the responsibility to help students hear the stories of those who may otherwise be forgotten. There is great value to unearthing the stories of those who have been cast aside due to neglect or malice, both historically and in contemporary society. Given the interdisciplinary nature of leadership education, we benefit from a historical lens which helps us to understand who we are and where we come from. One transformative leader whose story impacts us immensely and whose story we believe would benefit leadership educators to learn about is the story of Rabbi Regina Jonas, the first woman to be ordained as a Rabbi.

The article offers a rich narrative account of experiences, people and lessons learned when considering an impactful leader.

The often untold story of the first known woman rabbi shifts the male dominated narrative of leadership, particularly leadership in religious communities.

Though we have never met Regina Jonas, her story has shaped our study and practice of leadership and her triumphs live on in the spirits of women who lead with resilience, tenacity and fortitude today.