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Virtual teams are characterized by short social exchanges and a lack of para-verbal and non-verbal communication. This poses several challenges to virtual leaders. This study aims to decode the role of leadership and understand its impact on engaging geographically dispersed teams. This research offers a comprehensive view of idealized influence and inspirational motivation – the two sub-factors of transformational leadership which defines the charisma of a leader in leveraging engagement of virtual employees. It also studies the impact of effective leadership communication and trust between team members in engaging employees working in virtual teams.

This research is a mixed method study. Phase I of qualitative study (10 FGD) facilitated phase II of quantitative study. A questionnaire was developed to reflect themes that emerged from qualitative phase. The focus of the qualitative study was to understand the role of leaders viewed by virtual employees in the context of engagement. A cross-sectional data of 300 respondents from eight different industries was gathered using a survey questionnaire. Purposive non-probability sampling technique was used. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling, SmartPLS 3 software.

Results showed that leaders play a significant role in engaging virtual employees. The transformational leadership behaviour with a purview of idealized influence and inspirational motivation positively engages employees in virtual teams. The findings emphasize that trust between team members impacts engagement, and trust mediates the relationship between leadership communication effectiveness and engagement of virtual employees.

Positive leadership behaviour such as transformational leadership helps create an environment of trust and engagement that is experienced by a team working distantly. Leader plays a critical role to foster an engaging environment that boosts the potential of every employee. Organizations invest a lot of money, time and resources in leadership and communication training. This study could help organizations in training their managers/leaders for adapting their leadership style that suits the virtual work environment. Organizations can also pay attention to the required skill sets of people while hiring and/or promoting leaders who have to lead virtual employees.

The exponential increase in virtual working has necessitated decoding essential leadership skills to engage the virtual workforce. Working virtually is psychologically a different experience and hence requires a separate study. The lack of proximity and face-to-face conversations in virtual teams increases the complexity of leading and thus alters the engagement equation. This paper explores the impact of leaders in enhancing employee engagement and that is presented in a condensed manner.

This paper aims to explore the role of retention strategies and psychological contract (PC) factors in private hospitals.

The current study is an empirical research. The study was conducted by receiving responses from a sample size of 190 respondents who participated in the Doctors and Nurses’ survey.

The study results show the relationship between PC and the retention strategies of employees in hospitals. The research found that employees try to be committed to the hospital due to the image of the hospital and career development opportunities. Creating a sense of commitment among the employees towards their job and organisation, making to feel pride in the job, creating an attitude among the employees, a willingness to advocate the benefits and advantages and satisfaction among the employee towards the job and organisation.

With a population of more than one million employees (Doctors and Nurses) in the Indian health-care sector, the sample needs to be more adequate. However, these limitations present scope for future studies on this topic bearing on the aspiration for generalisation of the findings on the entire population.

The study has strong practical implications in strengthening the relationships by identifying the factors of PC and influencing the retention strategies of health-care professionals in the hospital.

This research explores the changing dynamics of the Indian health-care sector. Health-care professionals may perceive and react differently to the retention strategies and policies of the HR system in the health-care sector and have more expectations of PC fulfilment that enhance their capability to use professional skills and resources in the realisation of their organisational goals.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of climate smart agriculture knowledge transfers. As well as to examine the application of climate-smart agricultural (CSA) knowledge such as conservation agriculture, irrigation systems, integrated soil fertility management, bioenergy and agroforestry by smallholder farmers in Kenya.

The study applied comparative research methodology to compare climate smart agriculture knowledge application between smallholder participants in farmer field schools (FFS) and no FFS participation. This study used household data from 759 randomly selected rural agricultural households in three counties in Kenya. The study applied multivariate probit model to estimate CSA knowledge application by farmers who participated in field trainings and non-FFS participation farmers.

This study established that climate smart agriculture knowledge transfer through FFS increases farmers’ application of critical aspects of climate smart agriculture knowledge practices such as irrigation system, conservation agriculture and soil and water conservation. Such aspects have been noted as effective interventions against adverse climate change effects such as persistent droughts and flooding and soil infertility. Further findings illustrated that farmers who received CSA knowledge transfers applied agricultural insurance to mitigate rising climatic risks on their farms. Knowledge transfer interventions targeting affordability through subsidizing agricultural insurance are probable and more cost-effective measures that can be used to reduce smallholder farmers’ exposure to climate change-related risks.

This study provides information that was previously unknown about climate smart agriculture knowledge transfers and application among farmers who participated in field trainings and non-FFS participation farmers by using empirical data.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between gender, innovation and growth in Italian innovative start-ups.

This is a quantitative study based on a sample of more than 4,600 Italian innovative start-ups. In order to ascertain whether female-led firms that invest more in innovation grow more than their male-led counterparts, sales growth is analysed through a fixed-effects regression over the period 2015–2019. Propensity score matching is also used to check for potential selection bias.

Results reveal that innovation is crucial for start-up growth and, most importantly, that female entrepreneurs exploit the potential of innovative activities for their firm’s growth better than their male peers.

The results provide important evidence on the link between gender and innovation and how these two elements interact for the growth of firms in their early life. Results also provide insights for policymakers to use in designing programs for promoting female entrepreneurship and participation in science.

The paper provides analysis of the use of instructional coaching (IC) as a prevalent trend supporting new teachers in the English system and aims to inform ongoing policy development and implementation. The qualitative study examines mentors' conceptualisations and enactment of the role of instructional coach and the readiness of mentors to assume mentors' key stakeholder roles in the professional education of early career teachers (ECTs).

Semi-structured interviews with 37 mentors explored mentors' understandings and experiences of becoming instructional coaches as part of a pilot support initiative to support ECTs in England. Two rounds of interviews were conducted to generate data related to the first six months of mentoring on the programmes. Thematic analysis identified seven semantic themes which describe manifest content found within the data and identify mentors' perceptions of their role and practice as instructional coaches. Three latent themes were developed from mentors' accounts which indicate challenges in becoming an instructional coach in this context.

Concern to apply IC “correctly” according to the programme models was a strong feature amongst both novice and experienced mentors. A key finding is the lack of explicit knowledge of professional learning pedagogies amongst mentors and insecure understanding of how new teachers learn. Assuming the role of instructional coach presented both benefits of having a “model” to follow and disadvantages in fostering limited and over-prescribed concepts and practices related to the learning of new teachers.

The study investigated mentors during the first six months of a pilot programme and the paper reports on analysis of one type of data. The research results may lack generalisability, and a longitudinal study is necessary to further explore the validity of the findings.

Sustained, high-quality professional learning for mentors is crucial to mentors' role as instructional coaches to enable mentors to develop deep, critical understanding of how IC might support new teachers and how to exercise professional judgement in working with “models”. Judicious use of time and resource is needed to enable mentors to fulfil the potential of national mentoring programmes.

The study is timely in its examination of mentors that assume the role of instructional coach as one response to national policy development that makes support for ECTs mandatory. Such strategies have wide international relevance where the retention of new teachers is a policy priority.

This study aimed to develop an in-depth understanding of the outcomes of servant leadership at the team and organizational levels. It reviews the relationship between servant leadership and its team- and organizational-level outcomes, and examines the mediation and moderation effect of the relationship. It further identifies the mechanism by which servant leadership is beneficial to the organization.

A systematic literature review is conducted, focused on 52 articles published between 2012 and 2022. Content analysis and descriptive analysis were used to respond to the research questions.

A new conceptual model was developed to better understand the outcomes, mediators and moderators of servant leadership at team and organization level.

Future research should further explore outcomes of servant leadership at team and organizational levels and test how mediators affect the relationship between servant leadership and associated outcomes.

This study provides a framework for leaders on how servant leadership contributes to teams and organizations, and how a leader applies servant leadership.

This systematic review presents a new model that builds on existing research into servant leadership and its impact on team and organizational levels completed in the past decade. To date, there have been no reviews of servant leadership that focus only on outcomes at the team and organizational levels using a widely recognized database.

In today's world, events are used as a mean to achieve an array of objectives including changing behaviours. This chapter asserts the importance of marketing in encouraging sustainable behaviours by children through events. Thus, it examines the most effective way of marketing to contribute to shift behaviours in a young age having events as an ally. The question that poses is how marketing and more specifically social marketing can help to plan, create, design and promote sustainable events for children. Bearing that in mind, and based on a semi-systematic literature review, one developed a comprehensive conceptual framework intending to show how it is possible to encourage sustainable children's behaviour through events. Results suggest that social marketing can play a significant role in changing children's behaviour towards sustainability. It is argued that there is a creation of ‘value’ even that behaviour change is only temporary. Furthermore, it is suggested that social marketing represents a viable approach when seeking to educate children and change their behaviours towards the adoption of more sustainable practices. This chapter advances theoretical knowledge by offering a conceptual framework and by suggesting a way forward in marketing sustainable events for children.

Although the background on positive and supportive leadership styles and their positive effects is constantly increasing, it is known that negative and destructive leadership styles are less researched. Thus, examining the toxic leadership behaviors of nurse managers and the effects of these on nurses has a critical significance. When the measurement tools evaluating toxic leadership are examined, it is seen that there is a need for measurement tools that evaluate the toxic leadership behaviors of nurse managers. This study's purpose is to psychometrically examine the Turkish version of the Toxic Leadership Behaviors of Nurse Managers (ToxBH-NM-TR) Scale and test the hypothesized conceptual model that includes the relationships between toxic leadership, mental well-being and work engagement.

This quantitative research was carried out in psychometric, correlational and cross-sectional design. A total of 559 nurses were included in the study by using the convenience sample method. The ToxBH-NM-TR Scale, Warwick–Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were used to measure the latent variables of the study. The data were collected between June and October 2020 with the online survey method. IBM SPSS Statistics 24 and Amos 21 statistical programs were used to analyze the data.

The scale-content validity index of the ToxBH-NM-TR was 0.88. Confirmatory factor analysis results showed that the fit indices were acceptable. The ToxBH-NM-TR had high internal consistency and temporal stability. In addition, the relationships between the latent variables of the study were in the expected direction and statistically significant (p < 0.001). The hypothesized conceptual model showed an acceptable or good fit to the data. Mental well-being partially mediated the relationship between toxic leadership and work engagement. The study showed that the ToxBH-NM-TR is a valid and reliable instrument and provided evidence that confirmed the hypothesized conceptual model.

The first of these is the fact that managers' toxic leadership behaviors were determined based on nurses' self-report. For this reason, participants' potential prejudices may have affected the results of the study. The second limitation concerns the data collection technique. Using face-to-face data collection techniques during the COVID-19 pandemic could create a danger/risk for the health of nurses, researchers and patients. Therefore, the nurses in this research were reached through an online survey on social media platforms. The participants of the study were limited to those who had access to social media. Finally, some socio-demographic and professional characteristics of the participants may be a confounding variable for the model. For this reason, this conceptual model needs to be validated on other samples in different countries to increase the generalizability of the research results.

The characteristics of this leadership style should be understood, and its effects on employees and organizations should be evaluated by screening regularly to prevent the development of toxic leaders and to eliminate the harmful effects of their behavior. The nurses should respond decisively to the forces that cause them to submit in order not to encourage a toxic leadership style. Healthcare institutions should develop procedures and take a proactive approach to destructive and negative leadership behaviors and practices. In addition, nurse managers should get feedback by using informal networks and 360-degree assessment tools and evaluate whether their leadership has a toxic function by regularly screening the effects of their leadership.

The results of this study offer important implications for nurses, managers and healthcare institutions and can be useful in gaining awareness about the negative effects of a toxic leadership style. In addition, the study provides a valid and reliable scale that will enable the identification of managers with this leadership style to prevent the development of toxic leaders and eliminate the harmful effects of their behavior.

The purpose of this empirical case study is to study and explain the role of public leadership in the expansion of municipal climate action in Canada.

In 2017 and 2018, the authors conducted13 semi-directed interviews with municipal staff and elected officials from three municipalities, a documentary analysis of primary and secondary sources. Interviews and documentation collected were also coded using the software NVIVO 12. The authors compared three municipal case studies: the City of Toronto (Ontario), the City of Guelph (Ontario), and the Town of Bridgewater (Nova Scotia).

The authors found that leadership is a prominent factor explaining the expansion of municipal climate action in Canada. Municipal climate action is initiated and championed by an individual, elected officials or municipal staff, who lead and engage in the development of policy instruments to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change. These leaders facilitate the formulation and implementation of instruments, encourage a paradigm shift within the municipality, overcome structural and behavioural barriers, and foster collaboration around a common vision. Optimal municipal climate leadership occurs when the leadership of elected officials and municipal is congruent, though networks play a significant role by amplifying municipal sustainability leadership. They support staff and elected officials leadership within municipalities, provide more information and funding to grow the capacity of municipalities to develop instruments, to the point that conditions under which municipalities are driving climate action are changing.

This paper hopes to contribute to better understand under what conditions municipalities drive change.

There is an international scholarly recognition that municipalities should be further explored and considered important actors in the Canadian and international climate change governance. Gore (2010) and Robinson and Gore (2015) highlighted that we are yet to understand the extent to which municipalities are involved in climate governance in Canada. This article directly addresses this gap in the current scholarly literature and explores the expansion of climate municipal leadership with the aspects of interviews.