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This paper aims to explore current inconsistencies within the theoretical framework of current posttraumatic growth (PTG) literature in support of the suggestion for an alternative novel phenomenon labelled “post-adversarial appreciation”.

This re-conceptualisation has developed from the findings of empirical research conducted by the authors and their understanding of PTG.

Significant inconsistencies persist across the PTG literature in relation to the parameters required for PTG to manifest. It appears that PTG or an alternative concept labelled adversarial growth does take place following adverse/traumatic events, but that a separate phenomenon may better explain positive improvements in perceived personal appreciation during such events. This phenomenon is theorised by the authors as “post-adversarial appreciation”.

This paper suggests the existence of a novel phenomenon that may address many of the inconsistencies and present within the current PTG literature. This highlights a significant need for further research within the field of trauma and adversity in relation to positive outcomes which may result from such negative experiences.

The burden of mental illness is profound and growing. Each year, almost one in three adults in the non-institutionalized community has a diagnosable mental or addictive disorder, and this figure climbs to approximately 40% among emergency departments patients. We described the principal cardiovascular acute disease and their emotional and behavioral consequences where psychological intervention could improve the care pathway and clinical outcome. Peer-reviewed articles from Medline, Psycinfo, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane library, about psychological and psychopathological sequelae in cardiovascular acute disease were searched. The psychological and psychopathological sequelae associated to stroke include emotional and behavioral changes and cognitive impairment. Fear, symptoms of depression, anxiety or specific post-traumatic symptoms like intrusions, hyper-arousal and/or cognitive avoidance are common in people suffering of cardiovascular acute disease treated at emergency departments. In emergency departments, health personnel must recognize psychological and psychopatho-logical sequelae in cardiovascular acute disease in order to develop effective interventions for these patients. Identify factors that are associated with both psychological distress and physical distress and promote interventions aimed at reducing psychological distress and improving psychological health empowerment is an important element to consider in order to offer the best care to vulnerable population as that suffering of cardiovascular acute disease.

This paper aims to understand the effects of team power asymmetry (hierarchy) on team learning.

Literature suggests that power asymmetry can hurt team learning due to unequal interactions. The authors integrate the situated focus theory of power and the theory of adversarial growth to propose that environmental hardship can moderate this relationship. Such that, under environmental hardship there is a shift in power relations within hierarchical teams, such that power asymmetry positively relates to team learning via increased team egalitarianism (interactional equality).

The study is presented in two parts. Part 1 reviews the literature and builds the theoretical arguments for the conceptual model, while Part 2 empirically examines the model on a sample of military teams. In Part 1, the authors propose a theoretically derived model and directions for future research in team power, dynamics and learning.

It provides directions to empirically validate a contingency-based model to resolve the dilemma of creating equality and high levels of team learning in hierarchical teams.

The conceptual model and hypotheses contribute to the team learning literature by theoretically clarifying the conditions under which power asymmetry is likely to improve team learning.

Adequate recovery from burnout is important to understand. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether post-traumatic growth (PTG) contributes to higher engagement and reduced symptoms of burnout and whether this process is mediated by personal resources.

In a cross-sectional survey, 166 Dutch workers who had fully recovered from burnout were questioned on their level of PTG, their personal resources (optimism, resilience and self-efficacy), and their levels of engagement and burnout.

Fully recovered workers scored somewhat higher on current burnout level, but did not differ from norm group workers in their engagement level. Moreover, PTG appeared to positively affect both higher engagement and lower burnout levels, which is fully mediated by personal resources.

Post-traumatic growth (PTG) impacts on engagement and burnout levels amongst workers who have recovered from burnout by enhancing personal resources. The role of personal resources and the impact of PTG on engagement and burnout complaints following (recovery from) burnout deserve further investigation.

Management can support workers who have (recovered from a) burnout, by being aware of their (higher) engagement, and facilitate the enhancement of PTG and personal resources.

This study is one of the first to study the role of PTG after (recovery from) burnout and reveals valuable findings for both research and practice.

In an effort to determine, with reference to the US and Japan, what factors give rise to a society's emergence, growth and possible decline, some parallels are found between Buddhist, Confucian and Tao ideals and Christian tenets, representing the equivalent of a “Confucian ethic” which corresponds to the “Protestant ethic”. An empirical test failed to affirm the hypothesis that Japanese leaders would perceive religious factors as significant determinants of their country's success. Nonetheless, cultural, as well as religious, factors do play an important part in a civilisation's growth and are so perceived in Japan, while economic and political factors appear more significant to Americans.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the delay factors in South African electrical distribution projects and demonstrate the interlaced relationship between the identified project delay factors.

This research employs interactive management (IM) methodology to construct a model achieving the research purpose. The IM methodology is anchored in the soft systems thinking. Its inquiry process mainly comprises four phases: idea generation, idea clarification, idea structuring and interpretation of the structured ideas. The IM methodology allows the relevant stakeholders to collaboratively develop a digraph displaying the interrelationship among the system elements.

The participants of the IM session structured a systemic model showing that a loop comprising three factors is the driver leading to the delays in the electrical distribution projects. The three delay factors in the loop are “poor communication”, “poor planning” and “project scheduling not properly done”.

The findings show that a loop comprising three delay factors is the driver leading to the project delays. This result is different from the outputs of the commonly used approaches. The three identified root causes serve as the starting point for eradicating delays in the electrical distribution projects.

This paper aims to clarify under which conditions, and via what mechanisms, power asymmetry is likely to affect team learning. This work is part of a two-paper series. Part I presents the theoretical arguments linking power asymmetry to team learning via egalitarianism and the moderating role of environmental hardship. In Part II, the authors provide an empirical evaluation of the conceptual model presented in Part I.

Data was gathered on 4,637 military personnel nested in 143 ongoing teams. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the proposed moderated mediation model. The results show that under higher levels of environmental hardship, teams with higher power asymmetry (greater hierarchy) show greater team egalitarianism and higher team learning.

The results show that under higher levels of environmental hardship, teams with higher power asymmetry (greater hierarchy) show greater team egalitarianism and higher team learning.

The empirical examination of the proposed relationships is based on a large sample of military teams in the real world. Future research would benefit from testing the model on different samples across industries and adopting different operationalizations for environmental hardship relevant to each industry.

This work provides insights to help practitioners to preserve the coordination benefits of hierarchy, while still promoting more egalitarianism and team learning in hierarchical teams.

Entrepreneurship is an increasing relevant career option in the present labour market, which is complex and ever less rigidly structured. In this context, individuals need to develop a range of competencies, and one of major importance is resilience, defined as the ability to cope with difficult situations and to adapt to adverse environments. Taking into account the theory of planned behaviour, the purpose of this paper is to determine the direct relationship between resilience and entrepreneurship as a career option, and to analyse the mediating role of resilience in the relation between entrepreneurial intention (EI) and underlying factors such as attitudes towards entrepreneurship, social norms and self-efficacy.

Using structural equation modelling, the authors studied a sample of 1,251 business students at a Spanish university.

The results obtained reveal positive and significant relationships between resilience and EI, and highlight the mediating role played by resilience.

Since resilience is a competency that can be developed, and taking into account the positive relationship observed between antecedents of EI and resilience, training activities should be designed in which these factors are jointly stimulated. In addition, the findings highlight the need for institutional actions to reinforce the social esteem of the entrepreneur.

This paper contributes a valuable and relatively unexplored line of research concerning the relationship between one of the components of psychological capital and the choice of an entrepreneurial career.

This study aims to investigate the schedule deviation in road construction projects and the effect of project physical characteristics on schedule deviations. The study also addresses the main factors affecting time deviation in road construction projects.

The study is based on a sample of 101 road construction projects awarded in the West Bank in Palestine over the years 2010-2015. The study investigates the time deviation in total project duration and the deviations in major activities of road construction projects: earthworks, base works and asphalt works. Based on the collected data, regression models are developed to show the relation between actual duration and estimated duration. The study also investigates the effect of project physical characteristics on time deviation through regression analysis. The considered characteristics are: project size, terrain conditions, ground conditions and soil quality. To identify the main factors affecting time deviation, a survey of 40 contractors and 30 consultants was performed.

The study reveals the following: average of time deviations in earthworks = 46.48 per cent, average of time deviation in base works = 29.66 per cent, average of time deviation in asphalt works = 23.43 per cent and average of time deviation in total duration = 47.72 per cent. Regression models that investigate the effect of physical project characteristics (i.e. project size, terrain condition, ground condition and soil quality) on time deviation are discussed. The survey reveals that the top five factors affecting delay in road construction projects are political situation, payments delay by the owner, lack of coordination between construction parties, frequent change orders and unexpected ground condition and terrain.

This study investigates the schedule deviation in road construction projects and the effect of project physical characteristics on schedule deviations. The study also addresses the main factors affecting time deviation in road construction projects. The study is based on field data collected from 101 road construction projects and a questionnaire survey conducted in the West Bank in Palestine. Based on the findings, a number of recommendations are formulated to control the problem of time deviation in construction projects. Although this study is specific to the country of Palestine, its results can be applicable to other developing countries facing similar problems in their public construction sectors.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the views and experiences of mediators from different professional backgrounds practising in the construction industry. Previous research shows that the legal profession dominates construction mediation in both England and Wales.

The phenomenological approach was used to capture the lived experiences of the interviewees and gain insight into their views and practices. The data collection was by semi-structured interviews. The data was then analysed using software to establish themes.

The major difference in mediator practice discovered between the two groups is the use of the evaluative style by lawyer and facilitative style by non-lawyer mediators. Non-lawyer mediators strongly reported their criticisms of the evaluative style in mediation suggesting that it undermines the parties’ ability to self-determine their own dispute and reduces the level of satisfaction experienced by the parties in the process of mediation. Lawyer mediators supported the use of the evaluative style as an acceptable compromise on the parties’ self-determination and feelings of satisfaction in pursuit of achieving the goal of a settlement in mediation, which was significantly better than the escalation of stress and costs to the parties in the event that the dispute escalates to litigation. In addition, mandatory mediation, the role of advisors/advocates, governance and the future of mediation were explored.

The research is anticipated to be of particular benefit to parties considering referring a construction dispute to mediation.