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This paper introduces a conceptual lens for leading social change in slums and informal settlements. In line with this aim, the purpose of this case study is to describe the public problem-solving approach of a social change organization situated in an informal settlement through the lens of adaptive leadership, complexity theory and social change leadership (SCL).

This paper follows an engaged reflection tradition. First, the author-practitioners describe an informal settlement case hereafter called ISC in southeast Iran where many people have historically remained undocumented and uneducated. Using complex adaptive systems theory, adaptive leadership and SCL as the conceptual lens, the paper analyzes ISC as a complex adaptive context in which the community and the government are in tension in solving problems, particularly illiteracy. The instrumental case study draws from participant observation and document analysis to describe and examine the endeavors of a community office operating within ISC. Through this reflective analysis, the authors illustrate how a social change organization can effectively tackle public issues like illiteracy within informal settlements.

This paper applies complexity leadership theory to a social context. The study illustrates how social change organizations can support the transformation of informal spaces into adaptive spaces to enact social change.

This paper reflects on engagement activity near the insecure borders of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. By extending an organizational-level theory to the public sphere, this paper contributes theoretically to the complexity theory literature. Moreover, it provides a practical insight for community development and slum upgrading projects.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a significant impact on several aspects of public relations practice. By adopting the theoretical framework of adaptive leadership, this research is designed to explore how an organization’s top leadership can support related adaptive action in strategic communication. Particularly, we hope to explore whether the application of adaptive leadership could facilitate a higher level of communication transparency as well as deliver a sense of caring and empathy in COVID-19 communication.

An international online survey was designed and conducted for this study. The first sample consists of 776 full-time communication professionals in the United States of America with 435 women (56.1%) and 341 men (43.9%). The second sample consists of 268 full-time communication professionals in Canada, with 110 women (41.0%) and 158 men (59.0%). The two samples were merged into the final sample of 1,044 for the data analysis.

Results confirmed that the perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic increased communication professionals’ challenges in building trust. It also drives adaptive changes in their coping actions in strategic communication. More importantly, the top leadership within the organization played a key role in this adaptive leadership environment by demonstrating commitment to transparency in COVID-19 communication and delivering a sense of empathy during the pandemic.

This study contributes to our understanding of strategic communication in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 global pandemic, by focusing on the adaptive nature of communication leadership. More importantly, our study confirms the important roles of two leadership attributes (i.e. the sense of empathy and the commitment to communication transparency) in supporting adaptive leadership, which eventually influences trust building.

The present research attempts to show the contribution of emotional intelligence and servant leadership climate to individual adaptive performance. The authors intend to explain the relations between the emotional intelligence of employees as well as of manager and the employee's adaptive performance. Moreover, this research assesses the significance of the mediating role of “servant leadership” climate in the relationship between the emotional intelligence of the manager and the employee's adaptive performance.

This research uses the quantitative research method and is included in explanatory research. Data collection used several informants for each organization. Data were collected using a sample of 57 managers and 204 team members spread over 24 companies belonging to different sectors of activity.

Employees' emotional intelligence directly influences individual adaptive performance. There is a direct influence of manager's emotional intelligence on individual adaptive performance. Then, there is an indirect influence of emotional intelligence on individual adaptive performance through the mediation of servant leadership climate.

The novelty of this research is in its effort to observe the multilevel mediation of servant leadership climate with other variables developed in the research model. No previous studies have found a relationship between employee and manager's emotional intelligence and individual adaptive performance.

Component positioning is an important part of aircraft assembly, aiming at the problem that it is difficult to accurately fall into the corresponding ball socket for the ball head connected with aircraft component. This study aims to propose a ball head adaptive positioning method based on impedance control.

First, a target impedance model for ball head positioning is constructed, and a reference positioning trajectory is generated online based on the contact force between the ball head and the ball socket. Second, the target impedance parameters were optimized based on the artificial fish swarm algorithm. Third, to improve the robustness of the impedance controller in unknown environments, a controller is designed based on model reference adaptive control (MRAC) theory and an adaptive impedance control model is built in the Simulink environment. Finally, a series of ball head positioning experiments are carried out.

During the positioning of the ball head, the contact force between the ball head and the ball socket is maintained at a low level. After the positioning, the horizontal contact force between the ball head and the socket is less than 2 N. When the position of the contact environment has the same change during ball head positioning, the contact force between the ball head and the ball socket under standard impedance control will increase to 44 N, while the contact force of the ball head and the ball socket under adaptive impedance control will only increase to 19 N.

In this paper, impedance control is used to decouple the force-position relationship of the ball head during positioning, which makes the entire process of ball head positioning complete under low stress conditions. At the same time, by constructing an adaptive impedance controller based on MRAC, the robustness of the positioning system under changes in the contact environment position is greatly improved.

This study aims to investigate the response by a multi-campus private higher education provider to a major crisis. This study examined what elements of complex adaptive systems (CAS) were activated and/or developed within the organization during the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, through a retrospective analysis of organizational responses.

A retrospective qualitative approach has been used. The theory of CAS has been used as the theoretical lens to explore the organizational context, responses and behaviours during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 senior leaders across the major functions of the organization spread over multiple campuses.

Findings point to coverage of the main CAS characteristics in the organizational responses to the pandemic, however, in varying degrees. There was strong evidence for the application of guiding principles, for self-organizing, for micro-diversity coupled with independent actors and new generative relationships, all brought about by the chaos the pandemic generated. This study concludes that the global pandemic presented this organization with the impetus for rapid and agile responses to what ultimately has become a constructive crisis, paving the way for key elements of CAS theory to be enacted. This study recommend embedding the conscious creation of an adaptive space within ongoing strategic organizational transformation initiatives.

There is scant literature on CAS as applied to crises from organizations in the higher education sector and notably from outside of the health/medical fields. As a result, this study offers a novel and original approach to applying CAS theory during a major crisis. In addition to the findings above, this study also found an emergent characteristic, that of agility, which could be further tested as a potential theoretical addition to CAS theory.

This bibliometric mapping study aimed to provide comprehensive insights into the global research landscape of cybernetics. Utilizing the biblioshiny function in R Studio, we conducted an analysis spanning 1958 to 2023, sourcing data from Scopus. This research focuses on key terms such as cybernetics, cybernetics systems, complex adaptive systems, viable system models (VSM), agent-based modeling, feedback loops and complexity systems.

The analysis leveraged R Studio’s biblioshiny function to perform bibliometric mapping. Keyword searches were conducted within titles, abstracts and keywords, targeting terms central to cybernetics. The timespan, 1958–2023, provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of cybernetics-related literature. The data were extracted from Scopus to ensure a robust and widely recognized source.

The results revealed a rich and interconnected global research network in cybernetics. The word cloud analysis highlights prominent terms such as “agent-based modeling,” “complex adaptive systems,” “feedback loop,” “viable system model” and “cybernetics.” Notably, the journal Kybernetes has emerged as a focal point, with significant citations, solidifying its position as a key source within the cybernetics research domain. The bibliometric map provides visual clarity regarding the relationships between various concepts and their evolution over time.

This study contributes original insights by employing advanced bibliometric techniques in R Studio to map the cybernetics research landscape. The comprehensive analysis sheds light on the evolution of key concepts and the global collaborative networks shaping cybernetics research. The identification of influential sources, such as Kybernetes, adds value to researchers seeking to navigate and contribute to the dynamic field of cybernetics. Furthermore, this study highlights that cybernetics not only provides a useful framework for understanding and managing major economic shocks but also offers perspectives for understanding phenomena in various fields such as economics, medicine, environmental sciences and climate change.

Organizations are full of contradictions and leadership dilemmas. Managers often face challenges such as selecting between two contradicting options such that which one is more important can hardly be judged. To manage contradicting dynamics, today’s managers can adopt the paradoxical leadership approach. We build a theoretical model to investigate the influence of paradoxical leadership on multi-dimensional project agility (proactivity, adaptability, and resilience), and multi-dimensional project success (management, investment, and ownership success).

Drawing on survey-based data from the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) megaproject (N = 209), we performed covariance-based structural equation modeling to test the conceptual model.

The findings show that (1) paradoxical leadership has a significant positive impact on megaproject success, (2) paradoxical leadership has a significant positive influence on project agility, (3) project agility has a significant positive effect on megaproject success, and (4) project agility has a significant effect that mediates the link between paradoxical leadership and megaproject success. This research provides a theoretical and practical comprehension of paradoxical leadership with a new perspective on megaprojects.

This study provides an extension of the existing studies on paradoxical leadership and identifies the role of contradicting dynamics and their impact on multiple facets of megaproject success. It not only clarifies the relationship between paradoxical leadership and megaproject success, but also identifies the mediating role of project agility that can play an effective role in mobilizing success in megaprojects.

The study intends to evaluate the impact of inflation expectation on the performance of listed commercial banks in India during 2005–2021. Inflation expectation is considered as a direct policy tool by the policymakers for stability of the economy. The study explores how inflation expectation affects the performance indicators of the Indian banking industry while controlling for a wide range of bank-specific factors.

The study applies the generalized method of moments (GMM) on a panel sample of 27 listed bank to analyse the impact of inflation expectation on banking sector performance. The data on inflation expectation are obtained from the household inflation expectation survey introduced in India by the Reserve Bank of India in 2005. Return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Tobin's Q have been considered as the banking performance indicators in this study.

Empirical results exhibit that inflation expectation is instrumental in deciding the banking sector's performance. Inflation expectation has been found to have a significant and positive impact on accounting-based measures of banking performance. At the same time, it shows negative impact on the marketing-based measure.

The study gives a clear picture about how inflation expectation affects the banking performance and the monetary policy of the country. The study provides crucial insights to develop strategic decisions for the Indian banking sector. The adoption of proper macroeconomic policies, taking into account inflation expectation levels, is instrumental in enhancing bank's performance and in achieving economic growth.

This study contributes to the growing body of literature on the impact of inflationary conditions on banking performance. The originality lies in capturing the role of inflation expectation solely in determining banking sector performance.

Agile principles have been widely used in software development team practice since the creation of the Agile Manifesto. Studies have examined variables related to agile principles without systematically considering the relationships among key team, agile methodology, and process variables underlying the agile principles and how these variables jointly influence the achievement of software development agility. In this study, the authors tested a team/methodology–process–agility model that links team variables (team autonomy and team competence) and methodological variable (iterative development) to process variables (communication and collaborative decision-making), which are in turn linked to software development agility (ability to sense, respond and learn).

Survey data from one hundred and sixty software development professionals were analyzed using structural equation modeling methods.

The results support the team/methodology–process–agility model. Process variables (communication and collaborative decision-making) mediated the effects of team (autonomy and competence) and methodological (iterative development) variables on software development agility. In addition, team, methodology and process variables had different effects on the three dimensions of software development agility.

The results contribute to the literature on organizational IT management by establishing a team/methodology–process–agility model that can serve as a basis for developing a core theoretical foundation underlying agile principles and practices. The results also have practical implications for organizations in understanding and managing holistically the different roles that agile methodological, team and process factors play in achieving software development agility.

The purpose of this study was to explore how transport companies in Uganda execute strategies in a turbulent business environment.

The study adopted an exploratory qualitative methodology using the data collected through an open-ended instrument. Utilizing the qualitative data analysis software QSR NVivo9, the data were analyzed following the Gioia's methodology. Verbatim texts were used to explain the emergent themes.

The study's findings show that to successfully execute strategies, companies in Uganda communicate, coordinate and put control systems in their operations. The activities undertaken include customer care, timely settlement of complaints, comfortable seats, playing local music, partnerships with reliable fuel stations, setting up strategic offices, cost management, use of experienced drivers, sub-renting vehicles and inspections.

The study produces a pioneering result of how transport companies execute strategies in a turbulent business environment, an aspect that has not been adequately highlighted in previous studies.