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Meetings with colleagues are an essential activity in workplace collaboration. The iterative nature of collaborative work demands spaces that team members can access quickly and easily. Creating suitable meeting spaces will become more critical if the hybrid work model continues and the workplace environment becomes the hub for face-to-face collaborative time, learning and training. Workspace and fit-out is expensive so it is crucial that the investment in meeting spaces supports employees’ collaboration activities.

This paper presents a case study of a corporate organisation undertaken in New Zealand to investigate how employees from two business units use their workspace to collaborate within their own team and across other teams in their organisation. The study uses ethnographic techniques, including participant observation and in-depth face-to-face interviews.

The findings show that the frequency and nature of small group work in collaboration was underestimated in the initial planning of the new workspace. Although participants found the design and fit-out of the formal meeting rooms supportive of collaborative work, the meeting rooms were in high demand, and it was difficult to find a room at short notice. The breakout spaces were confusing because they lacked key design attributes identified by the participants as conducive to small group work. Design shortfalls together with fit-out features perceived as supportive of collaborative work are identified.

The research reports on employees’ perceptions and experiences across two functionally diverse business units, reflecting their different needs and concerns.

This paper aims to investigate how a US firm’s political landscape affects the integration of environmental, social and governance (hereafter ESG) measures in CEO compensation contracts, thereby affecting the firm’s ESG performance and credit rating.

Based on the results of state senatorial and presidential elections and the location of a US firm’s headquarters, the authors categorize whether a firm has a political environment that is predominantly Democratic (blue) or Republican (red). The empirical analyses are based on a sample of US firms in the period 2014–2021.

The authors find that firms in blue states are more likely to link CEO compensation to ESG performance measures. Further, the results show that firms in blue states with ESG-linked compensation contracts have better ESG performance. Lastly, the authors find evidence that a firm’s ESG performance has a positive impact on its credit rating, but the impact is weakened if firms in red states link ESG performance to executive compensation.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research that explores how a firm’s political environment affects the use of ESG performance measures in CEO compensation contracts. Furthermore, the authors contribute to the literature by showing evidence that the political environment interacts with the impact of ESG-linked compensation incentives on the firm’s ESG performance and, thus, its credit rating.

There is evidence that spirituality at the workplace has positive effects on work outcomes, and there are different models conceptualizing the construct. To date, there is no discussion highlighting how digitalization is affecting workplace spirituality and vice versa. The present review tries to close this gap by discussing the psychological dynamics in light of digitalization and spirituality in the context of work.

This is a conceptual discussion based on an extensive narrative review. The conceptual design is further tested with a real-life case study.

The result is a model that may guide future research, which consists of the four highly interdependent domains, namely psychology (with the dimensions of emotion, cognition and behavior), digitalization (with the dimensions of platforms, data and algorithms), spirituality (with the dimensions of meaning, self-transcendation and belonging), as well as the workplace (with the dimensions of work tasks, location, community and culture and values). The discussion includes implications for the future of work, suggestions for management decisions and potential future research directions.

To date, there are many discussions about digital transformation and a limited amount of them have invested in analyzing psychological dimensions. The application to spirituality and the workplace – especially when the two are combined – is almost wholly absent, which makes the present discussion both innovative and original.

Aging is a complex and multifactorial process. This study aims to is focus on mattering in older people. Mattering is the feeling of being important to others in ways that give individuals the sense that they are valued and other people care about them. However, for many, aging brings about the loss of self-esteem, and they feel useless, deprived and unwanted. The authors have adopted the partial least square structural equation modeling technique and Self-Esteem Scale of Rosenberg for evaluating the level of self-esteem in senior citizens of Pakistan. The results reveal a strong association between the predictor and the criterion variables, supporting the view that the communal integration construct is the strongest determinant in old age. Based on the results, the authors can argue that socioeconomic status, social relationships and daily activities and have a direct association with the elderly people’s self-esteem.

The Self-Esteem Questionnaire by Rosenberg (Rosenberg, 1965) and the Quality of Life Questionnaire by Bowling (Bowling, Banister, Sutton Evans and Windsor (2002) are two tested tools that were used to collect the sample data from various neighborhoods of Peshawar. The sample consisted of respondents who were 60 years of age or older. The current study only included men who were 60 years of age or older because men make up a higher number of retirees in the district (84%) than do women. A total of 312 male volunteers, representing a various cadre of job, were recruited at random. The research population’s data were gathered through convenience sampling. Only volunteers who appeared to be healthy in both body and mind were chosen as participants. When older people were unable to complete questionnaires, researchers helped them read the questions and then helped them write down their answers. Out of the 500 survey forms that were sent, 312 were properly completed and used for the analysis.

The results of this study suggest that the happiness and well-being of retired seniors are not only influenced by their general activities, health and socioeconomic status but also more strongly by their psycho-social integration, such as their close and intimate relationships with friends, family and relatives. The findings, therefore, urge the incorporation of social integration aspects in mental health treatment programs and public health policies to support the psycho-social well-being of the elderly. Social relationship variables might become a common aspect of practice through medical, psychiatric and psychological screening and examination.

Due to the fact that research participants were selected from just one city – Peshawar – the results cannot be generalized. As a result, findings are less likely to apply to older persons who reside in other provinces due to sample selection. Future research will be conducted all around the nation, though, and it could produce more precise and broadly applicable findings. Only male respondents applied to the second limitation. Only male participants were sought due to socioeconomic differences, social and cultural obstacles and the small number of female retirees. Therefore, it limits the spectrum of the study.

An individual’s self-esteem is made up of intrapersonal and interpersonal elements. Regarding policy intervention, the present effort will be a crucial step in helping the elderly understand the value of maintaining social networks and will encourage them to maintain close relationships with family and friends to safeguard their well-being in later life. On the other side, this research will help academics, politicians and thinkers better comprehend aging, perspectives of conduct and psychological and emotional viewpoints. One of the most important aspects of life that affects how old people feel about themselves is the support from social networks. Therefore, through raising awareness and fostering a favorable environment for the welfare and self-worth of senior individuals, politicians and society are expected to care for enriching the lives of the elderly. By highlighting the importance of communal support from a multidimensional aspect of a person, this study offers a wider perspective on self-esteem. With this in mind, the authors advise academics to adopt a fresh perspective on interpersonal mechanisms that ultimately aim to improve self-esteem and social support. Social support is a key factor in fostering or inhibiting self-esteem in the elderly and is a strong predictor of mental health. A society must take action to boost older people’s communal integration to improve their quality of life.

This study makes the case for a broader perspective on self-respect or esteem by suggesting that self-esteem may be seen in a broader context rather than in terms of limited characteristics. The authors offer an integrated model of self-esteem that conceptualizes it as an interpersonal phenomenon influenced by multiple vital aspects using various metrics of old age. Self-esteem was envisioned as the result of a number of factors, including social position, activities and interpersonal interaction “relationships with relatives, family, and friends.” The authors’ conceptual framework’s goal is to comprehend the different ways that senior citizens’ lives affect their sense of self-worth.

This study aims to contribute to discussions on peace between hostile nonmajor powers by focusing on the behavior of major powers. Specifically, alliances between nonmajor and major powers are explored to determine whether such ties contribute to transitions to higher levels of peace. Moreover, systemic factors involving power dynamics and relationships between major powers are also evaluated.

Multiple data sets which altogether covered the era from 1816 to 2010 were analyzed. All pairs of countries that were former foes were considered. Cox hazard regression was conducted.

Systemic instability is influential at transitions from lowest levels of peace for nonmajor power dyads. Eras where major powers are operating multilaterally appear to play a highly limited role in nonmajor powers attaining stable peace. However, alliances with major powers are relatively more crucial in these discussions for nonmajor powers and contribute to higher levels of peace being attained by nonmajor powers.

Further research in particular with case studies can help to elucidate and extend the statistical findings.

Based on the findings, the design and operations of alliances can create more space to hear a wider range of issues that allies can be facing.

While major powers clearly have considerable capacity and global outreach, there has been little attention to whether and how they contribute to former foes attaining higher quality of peace.

This research seeks to better understand the potential uses of maker technologies, such as single-board computers and microcontrollers, more broadly within libraries and not simply confined to the makerspace. Through interviews with librarians creating such projects, this study illustrates their successes, challenges, means of acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge, as well as their perceptions of the broader benefits and challenges to other library and information science practitioners.

This research study employed semistructured interviews with 12 librarians who have created projects with maker technologies for broader library use. Inductive qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts was conducted to identify themes of interest to the stated research questions.

Librarians' projects included: displaying digital signage, hosting online public access catalog stations, tallying reference desk interactions, counting patrons at the gate and monitoring 3-D printing statistics, among others. Participants appreciated the low-cost, flexible and creative nature of such technologies, and though they also encountered technical and organizational challenges in their use, relayed a potential series of benefits to librarians and library staff were these technologies to be more widely used.

Although significant research efforts have focused on aspects of makerspaces across all types of libraries, little work has formally collected and assessed library practitioners' work with maker technologies outside of the makerspace. Participants help detail the potential benefits of having a deeper understanding of this work, and the successes it could bring to librarians' work.

This research aims to examine the performativity of corporate reports as an example of an accounting inscription that can frame the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities and their stakeholders. The framing and overflow effects of these reports have been explored to consider whether they strengthen or undermine the reputation and capability of these community-controlled entities.

Aligned with actor–network theory and a decolonising research protocol, qualitative interviews were conducted with senior managers and directors of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities and their key stakeholders to explore their experiences of corporate reporting. Additional analysis of these organisations' annual reports was conducted to corroborate key reporting themes.

This research has identified a dual role for corporate reporting, simultaneously framing performance against an expectation of failure, but with the potential for accounting inscriptions to highlight positive contributions to cultural and community priorities. It also indicates the need for sector specifics within the reporting frameworks and adequate resourcing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities to meet reporting obligations.

This research makes policy-based recommendations in terms of user-driven and culturally informed performance measures. It also highlights the importance of adequate funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities to carry out meaningful performance evaluations beyond the preparation of financial statements.

One of the few empirical studies to capture the performativity of accounting inscriptions from the perspective of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entities. This sector has received minimal attention within the accounting discipline, despite significantly contributing to community well-being and cultural protection. There is emancipatory potential via policy frameworks that resonate with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural beliefs and practices.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the history and current state of lesson study (LS) in Germany. In particular, this paper describes the development of LS over time and its stakeholders.

Conducting a systematic literature review, we searched three scientific databases and Google Scholar, examined 806 results and included 50 articles in our final sample, which we analyzed systematically.

The spread of LS in Germany can be divided into three phases, characterized by their own LS projects as well as their own ways of understanding LS. Although interest in LS has increased significantly in recent years, it is only present at a small number of schools and universities in Germany if compared internationally. Furthermore, this paper identifies the so-called learning activity curves as a tool frequently used for observation and reflection that appears to be unknown outside German-speaking countries.

This paper may act as an outline for countries without large-scale LS projects and with limited support from policymakers. The experience from Germany demonstrates the outcomes and challenges that can arise in such a situation and shows how unique LS features and proceedings have emerged.

As social infrastructures, public libraries are increasingly recognised as providing more than access to books and information; librarians’ work is importantly centred around practices of care. However, the ways in which they provide care is poorly researched, let alone conceptualised. This paper explores how this important part of librarians’ daily work is practiced through the lens of infrastructuring.

The paper first theoretically discusses the concepts of social infrastructuring, care and tinkering. Then, it turns to ethnographic research conducted in the public library networks of three European cities: Vienna (Austria), Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and Malmö (Sweden). The paper comprises empirical materials from all three countries and unpacks 16 librarians’ daily working routines of care through participant observations.

The empirical analysis resulted in three modes of social infrastructuring in public libraries: (1) maintaining, (2) building connections and (3) drawing boundaries. Practices of care are prominent in each of these infrastructuring modes: librarians infrastructure the library with and via their care practices. Whilst care practices are difficult to quantify and verbalise, they are valuable for library patrons. By using the concept of tinkering, the article conceptualises librarians’ infrastructuring enactments as crucial community-building aspects of libraries.

By focusing on the enactment of social infrastructuring, the paper goes beyond a descriptive approach to understanding public libraries as important social infrastructures. Rather, the paper unpacks how libraries come into being as infrastructuring agencies by highlighting what librarians do and say. Our international study articulates the importance of care practices in public libraries across different national contexts.